{"id":5065,"date":"2025-05-04T15:33:48","date_gmt":"2025-05-04T10:33:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/?p=5065"},"modified":"2025-05-04T15:33:57","modified_gmt":"2025-05-04T10:33:57","slug":"half-of-karachi-lacks-access-to-safe-drinking-water-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/?p=5065","title":{"rendered":"Half of Karachi lacks access to safe drinking water: report"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>81% of residents forced to buy drinking water.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>90% of water sources unsafe, PCRWR reports.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Karachi short by 550 million gallons daily.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">KARACHI: A startling new report by the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) has revealed that nearly half of Karachi\u2019s population does not have access to safe drinking water, in a city now exceeding 20 million residents.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The report further warns that Pakistan could run out of drinking water by 2040 if urgent corrective measures are not taken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the findings, 81% of Karachi\u2019s residents are forced to purchase drinking water, as over 90% of water sources are contaminated with hazardous pollutants.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.geo.tv\/assets\/uploads\/updates\/2025-05-04\/603083_5008228_updates.jpg\" alt=\"Drinking water sources based on baseline survey.\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Drinking water sources based on baseline survey.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bacterial contamination, unsafe chemical levels, and poor infrastructure are making clean water a luxury for many in Pakistan\u2019s largest city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pakistan is currently ranked the third most water-stressed country in the world, with an accelerating water crisis linked to climate change, poor governance, population growth, and declining freshwater availability.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The situation is particularly severe in urban centres like Karachi, which is now facing the prospect of absolute water scarcity within the next 15 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Demand outstrips supply<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) is responsible for the city\u2019s water supply network, drawing around 95% of its water from the Indus River via Keenjhar Lake.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.geo.tv\/assets\/uploads\/updates\/2025-05-04\/603083_1874239_updates.jpg\" alt=\"Responses of community mon responsibilty of water supply.\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Responses of community mon responsibilty of water supply.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, the city\u2019s daily demand is 1,200 million gallons, while supply stands at only 650MGD, leaving a gap of 550MGD. This unmet demand has pushed residents, especially in low-income areas, toward illegal and unregulated water sources such as private tankers, oil refineries, and groundwater wells.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These alternatives often come at a high cost, financially and health-wise. Groundwater in Karachi contains salinity levels of 4,000\u201312,000PPM, far exceeding the World Health Organisation\u2019s safe limit of 1,000PPM, making it unfit for human consumption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.geo.tv\/assets\/uploads\/updates\/2025-05-04\/603083_1920415_updates.jpg\" alt=\"Location of water sources (%) based on baseline survey.\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Location of water sources (%) based on baseline survey.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Contamination and public health risk<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the report, 41% of Karachi\u2019s population lacks access to properly managed drinking water, and over 90% of water sources are biologically contaminated, contributing to widespread waterborne illnesses such as diarrhoea, typhoid, and hepatitis.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Vulnerable populations, particularly women, children, and the elderly, bear the brunt of these outbreaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Sindh MICS 2017\u20132018 survey, published in 2021, revealed that 79.1% of source water in Karachi is contaminated with E. coli, while contamination levels rise to 85.5% at the household level, indicating severe risks throughout the water distribution system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Infrastructure challenges<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Karachi\u2019s water infrastructure is plagued by leakages, illegal connections, ageing pipelines, and poor maintenance, leading to further contamination and massive water loss.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A survey found that 86% of respondents reported not receiving piped water from the KWSB in a long time. Instead, most residents depend on private suppliers, wells, or hand pumps, many of which are unreliable and unsafe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.geo.tv\/assets\/uploads\/updates\/2025-05-04\/603083_5234667_updates.jpg\" alt=\"Water supply by muncipality in the targetted area.\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Water supply by muncipality in the targetted area.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Alarmingly, 42% of residents said they had never seen any government-led water quality testing in their area, and 58% were unaware of whether any testing had ever occurred.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.geo.tv\/assets\/uploads\/updates\/2025-05-04\/603083_9399240_updates.jpg\" alt=\"Community response on water quality monitoring.\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Community response on water quality monitoring.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This lack of regulation and transparency erodes public trust in the water supply system and leaves residents exposed to serious health hazards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The KWSB, Karachi\u2019s primary utility provider, continues to struggle with the crisis, hindered by financial mismanagement, political interference, and an inability to implement reforms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>KARACHI: A startling new report by the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) has revealed that nearly half of Karachi\u2019s population does not have access to safe drinking water, in a city now exceeding 20 million residents.&nbsp; The report further warns that Pakistan could run out of drinking water by 2040 if urgent [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5066,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","inline_featured_image":false,"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_3859443944190656_798604363342440":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5065"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5065\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5067,"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5065\/revisions\/5067"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}