50 years old Worst Sewerage Pipelines of Karachi - Updates Pakistan
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50 years old Worst Sewerage Pipelines of Karachi
Dry dams, leaky pipes and tanker mafias – Karachi's water crisisPakistan’s largest city is struggling to deliver water to residents amid a shortfall and claims of state mismanagement
Sabrina Toppa in Karachi
Tue 28 Jun 2016 10.59 BSTLast modified on Fri 6 Oct 2017 13.13 BST
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Children selling water in Bilal Colony, Karachi
A young boy sells water in Bilal Colony, Karachi. The city is currently meeting just 50% of its total water requirement. Photograph: Sabrina Toppa
“There’s nothing here,” says Farzana Khatoun, surveying the dry expanse of land before her. “We don’t even have enough water to wash up for prayer, do our laundry or wash our dishes.” Khatoun cannot simply turn on a tap and expect water to gush out; her home is not connected to the water pipelines of Karachi, the in the world.
Karachi – home to more than 20 million people – is currently meeting just 50% of its total water requirement, according to officials from the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB). The city needs 1.1bn gallons of water daily but can only supply 550m gallons per day (MGD). Meanwhile, Karachi’s population growth rate of 4.5% per annum means that nearly a million newcomers – economic migrants, refugees and internally displaced people – enter the city every year, further stressing the already-limited water supply.
The global water crisis in 13 photographs
“Since this government came into power in 2013, we haven’t had water,” says Mofiz Khan, a shopkeeper in Orangi Town, an economically depressed area in westernmost Karachi. Khan has tried different methods to provoke a response: he’s written letters, demonstrated on the streets and waited in long queues for water tankers, at times getting into a fracas with other water-starved residents.
The water crisis is the result of several factors. Scarce water resources persistently fail to meet the massive demand from a burgeoning population. The Hub Dam went dry earlier this year, leaving Karachi with just one water source, the Indus river, which is more than 120km away.
This long transmission route also causes problems – leakages and water thefts account for the loss of almost 30% of the city’s water supply, according to Jawed Shamim, former chief engineer at KWSB. This is exacerbated by the poor performance of outdated and inefficient pumping stations.
Kamran Khan in Orangi Town, which is one of worst-affected areas due to its reliance on Hub Dam
FacebookTwitterPinterest Kamran Khan in Orangi Town, which is one of worst-affected areas due to its reliance on Hub Dam (no longer supplies water) Photograph: Sabrina Toppa
When the water does reach citizens, distribution inequalities arise; there is no metering system to monitor real use or water waste. A “water tanker mafia” also illegally punctures pipelines and siphons off water to sell at inflated rates on the black market, highlighting other problems linked to chronic corruption, mismanagement and poor
Dry dams, leaky pipes and tanker mafias – Karachi's water crisisPakistan’s largest city is struggling to deliver water to residents amid a shortfall and claims of state mismanagement
Sabrina Toppa in Karachi
Tue 28 Jun 2016 10.59 BSTLast modified on Fri 6 Oct 2017 13.13 BST
Shares
133
Children selling water in Bilal Colony, Karachi
A young boy sells water in Bilal Colony, Karachi. The city is currently meeting just 50% of its total water requirement. Photograph: Sabrina Toppa
“There’s nothing here,” says Farzana Khatoun, surveying the dry expanse of land before her. “We don’t even have enough water to wash up for prayer, do our laundry or wash our dishes.” Khatoun cannot simply turn on a tap and expect water to gush out; her home is not connected to the water pipelines of Karachi, the in the world.
Karachi – home to more than 20 million people – is currently meeting just 50% of its total water requirement, according to officials from the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB). The city needs 1.1bn gallons of water daily but can only supply 550m gallons per day (MGD). Meanwhile, Karachi’s population growth rate of 4.5% per annum means that nearly a million newcomers – economic migrants, refugees and internally displaced people – enter the city every year, further stressing the already-limited water supply.
The global water crisis in 13 photographs
“Since this government came into power in 2013, we haven’t had water,” says Mofiz Khan, a shopkeeper in Orangi Town, an economically depressed area in westernmost Karachi. Khan has tried different methods to provoke a response: he’s written letters, demonstrated on the streets and waited in long queues for water tankers, at times getting into a fracas with other water-starved residents.
The water crisis is the result of several factors. Scarce water resources persistently fail to meet the massive demand from a burgeoning population. The Hub Dam went dry earlier this year, leaving Karachi with just one water source, the Indus river, which is more than 120km away.
This long transmission route also causes problems – leakages and water thefts account for the loss of almost 30% of the city’s water supply, according to Jawed Shamim, former chief engineer at KWSB. This is exacerbated by the poor performance of outdated and inefficient pumping stations.
Kamran Khan in Orangi Town, which is one of worst-affected areas due to its reliance on Hub Dam
FacebookTwitterPinterest Kamran Khan in Orangi Town, which is one of worst-affected areas due to its reliance on Hub Dam (no longer supplies water) Photograph: Sabrina Toppa
When the water does reach citizens, distribution inequalities arise; there is no metering system to monitor real use or water waste. A “water tanker mafia” also illegally punctures pipelines and siphons off water to sell at inflated rates on the black market, highlighting other problems linked to chronic corruption, mismanagement and poor