Parched city bled dry by Pakistan’s water mafia
THE dripping scaffold of industrial piping looked anything but temporary and was barely hidden from the street, but the men in charge were still edgy.
As they kept an eye out, tanker lorries queued to be pumped full of liquid cargo before cruising through Karachi’s streets delivering to thirsty customers.
For a couple of minutes, the so-called tanker mafia were happy to show off one of their illegal hydrants in the west of the city, before becoming jumpy and insisting I left.
For all the caution, one might suspect their contraband trade involved something more exotic than water. But in a parched city growing at a runaway rate, the black market in water is big business.
Organised crime gangs have their tentacles in almost every form of enterprise in Pakistan’s mega port. From land and housing to smuggling and drugs, powerful cartels seek to make a profit out of everything.
Yet for the city of more than 15 million people, locals say the most well organised racket runs on one of life’s most basic commodities.
Pakistan is one of the most waterstressed countries in the world, according to the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund. Despite thousands of glaciers and mighty rivers, the country is rapidly running short of water.
Overpopulation, wasteful agriculture, pollution, receding ice and a drying climate are cutting both the quantity and quality of supplies.
Karachi’s water board currently provides only around half the water the city needs and the city’s thirst is the mafia’s business opportunity.
“There are various types of mafia that Karachi is facing, but water is the strongest,” said Rehan Hashmi, a senior city politician.
With the world becoming increasingly urban and an estimated two thirds of the population facing shortages by 2025, Karachi’s woes may be a sign of what is to come elsewhere. “The globe is facing this issue. I myself expect we might be facing a serious crisis,” he said.
Water shortages had already caused conflict with neighbouring India, he said, and created tensions between Pakistan’s provinces. Now the water problems are forcing disputes between areas within the city.
“I foresee in the coming future that immediate neighbours will be fighting with each other unless and until we make a solution,” he warned.
Karachi needs 950million gallons of water daily, yet the water board can only pump in slightly less than half that to the mains system. The Hub Dam north of the city has been dry for two years due to a lack of rainfall, and all the water board’s supply comes from the Indus to the east.
The huge shortfall in Karachi’s water is made up by distribution through water tankers. While some of the distribution is legal, much is carried out by the so-called tanker mafia, who get water through illegal boreholes, or by tapping into the mains to steal and sell on city water.
“In my opinion there are dozens of illegal hydrants and punctures in the main supply,” said Mr Hashmi.
Corrupt politicians have also been quick to realise the potential of the trade and illegal hydrants cannot operate without high-level protection. The illegal hydrant seen by The
Daily Telegraph was a borehole tapping into the water table, selling water at twice the official government rate and, according to locals, operating under the protection of a local politician. The owner, who declined to be named, said he ran a fleet of 43 private tankers. He denied he was a criminal, but said the hydrant had been shut down three times by the police. “I am helping the people who are suffering from water shortage. The government should make this legal,” he said.
Naseema Khan’s taps in the Al Noor housing society ran dry more than five years ago and she and her neighbours have been reliant on tankers ever since. The 55-year-old said she was paying a sizeable chunk of her income to a tanker to get water, despite also having to still pay water rates for her non-existent mains supply.
“Water is one of the most important issues in our life. We have to face this on a daily basis,” she said.
She and her neighbours complain that their mains water supply was diverted to a nearby industrial estate to supply textile factories.
Shortages are not confined to slums. In the upmarket Defence Housing Authority taps are also dry and residents wait for tankers.
The man trying to bring water to the city is Khalid Mehmood Shaikh, the managing director of the water board and its 12,000 employees.
He insists that the number of illegal hydrants stealing his water is exaggerated, saying a tougher line by the courts and police has seen almost all shut down. But he also admits he
‘The political masters spend less on water than showy roads and bridges because it gives them some pleasure’
has a struggle on his hands.
“This war will continue until we are able to provide some sources of water. Once we are able to send water through our pipes to all houses then there will be no need for these hydrants. The demand of these hydrants will come down as we improve sources,” he said.
In the meantime, he has a difficult choice. “If we crack down on those people, then people who are enjoying this water will be deprived of this water,” he said. “If we let them continue, then we will be blamed for allowing illegal practices.”
Mr Shaikh said that new water supply routes due to come on stream in the next couple of years would help relieve the drought, but water infrastructure hidden underground was not any politician’s priority.
He said: “Generally the political masters spend less on water infrastructure than their showy roads and bridges infrastructure, because this gives them some pleasure.”
But according to Sher Mohammad, a legal tanker distributor, the situation is getting worse. “The water levels are not increasing, but the population is,” he said.
“The reality is it’s getting worse day by day. The city is spreading with no planning and the resource remains the same.”