Worse to come?
Things are grim, indeed, for the citizens of the port city. If rampant lawlessness, official corruption, lack of security, extortion, kidnapping, murder, etc, was not bad enough, the people of the largest city and country’s financial hub are now facing acute water shortage. And the provincial government would do something to help the people, but it is far too busy fighting political battles and ensuring long term survival by cutting deals and moving pieces across the complicated chess board of Sindh politics. And Karachi being the power base, of course, must suffer more.
Karachi’s water problem has persisted for years, if not decades. For far too long people – who could afford to, at least – relied on private tankers to furnish their needs. Official arrangements – Hub Dam, etc – were simply not reliable enough for those who could afford less troublesome, even if more costly, alternatives. But over the last half year, especially, the problem has turned into a crisis. Hub Dam has run dry, and since it used to supply 100 million gallons per day of the 1,000 mgd needed, the supply-demand equation has stretched even further. The city faces a daily shortage of 450 million gallons.
Not only has this gap pushed more and more people to rely on what has now become the notorious tanker mafia, it is also leading others to more desperate measures. There are increasing reports of residents turning to boring wells, which produces low quality water and ends up doing more harm than good sometimes. All this while the Sindh government has nothing but its usual empty rhetoric to present to the people. But this is the same government that was cross over being questioned over the Tharparkar famine deaths not too long ago. Sharjeel Memon in fact said that the Sindh government’s performance in the matter deserved appreciation. And since their mindset has not changed, it is possible for the PPP to consider its treatment of the water crisis somewhat above satisfactory as well. Little surprise, in hindsight, that it has been humbled at a number of polls of late. There can be no better opportunity for PPP to revive its fortunes than helping the common people. And now it is presented with just such an opportunity, even if it has come from its own incompetence. The people of Karachi deserve better. Hopefully their elected representative realise as much.
