Daily Times

KARACHI: Owners of over 70 factories found releasing toxic industrial waste in Karachi’s drains were presented in front of the Sindh Water Commission on Saturday.

The commission expressed its displeasure on learning that these factories had refused to allow Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) officials from inspecting their premises.

Sindh Water Commission head Justice (retd) Amir Hani Muslim issued an order during the hearing on Saturday directing the relevant authorities to inspect all of the reported factories. The authorities were asked to coordinate with the Police Department to conduct raids at these factories.

They were also told to file cases against six factory owners.

On Saturday, the factory owners submitted an unconditional apology during the hearing, and assured the court of complete cooperation with the authorities in the future.

The Sindh Water Commission is hearing cases related to degradation of environment caused by poor sewerage infrastructure in the city as well as lack of adequate supply of potable water.

The authorities in the city have for quite some time considering setting up sewage treatment plants but a host of factors including lack of funds, and poor coordination between the provincial and the metropolitan authorities have prevented progress on the construction of new facilities and on repair works at existing facilities.

Similarly, the issue of water shortages as only gotten more acute with time. According to the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board’s own estimates, the city requires around 1,100 million gallons of water per day to meet the needs of its 15 million residents. The supply of water from Keenjhar Lake, the only water source for the largest metropolitan area of the country, is no more than 500 mgd. Additionally, a large quantity of water pumped from Keenjhar Lake gets stolen or wasted along the way due to poor infrastructure and mismanagement, meaning that officials within the KWSB collude with groups running water tankers and illegal hydrants where water stolen from the KWSB’s main pipeline is diverted to illegal hydrants and then sold to the city residents at a premium. The most affected are the thousands of low-income residents living in the city’s squatter settlements, who have to spend a major chunk of their meager earnings of meeting their water needs.

Recently, dozens of residents of Lyari had gathered at the Karachi Press Club and staged a protest against shortage of drinking water and of poor quality of water supplied through KWSB pipes.

Published in Daily Times, February  25^th 2018.