Ample supply for bowsers puzzles residents getting water after 15-day gap.

KARACHI -- An acute shortage of potable water across the city has been persisting for the past many days as the lone water utility in the city - Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) - seems to have completely failed to ensure adequate and just supply of water to city residents.

The residents of different localities termed the short supply of water 'artificial crisis' asking as to why water tanker were getting enough water to sell it at exorbitant rates when there was shortage of water.

The water utility officials said that the city's current population required around 1,100 to 1,200 million gallons per day (MGD) and only 400MGD to 450MGD was being delivered, thus leading to water crisis in several parts of the city.

A senior KWSB official, who did not wish to be named, said over 550 million gallons of water a day was fed into the city's main pumping station at Dhabeji, while over 40 per cent of water was either lost or stolen before it reached consumers.

Most water board staffers when confronted with a complain misbehave, citizens say

In several areas, where water used to come after a week, the water crisis has intensified as now water is supplied after 15 days.

Abu Zaid Ghulam Jillani, a resident of North Karachi, told Dawn that the water was not being supplied in the neighbourhood as per weekly schedule. 'Now water is supplied after a 15-day period and pressure is so low that it does not reach every house,' he lamented.

Another citizen said that when the residents complained to the officers of the water utility about short supply, they behaved unprofessionally towards the complainants instead of solving the issue.

He said that his area was without a drop of water for the past 15 days, while water comes with full pressure in the adjoining areas every week. 'The...