The Pasban Democratic Party (PDP) today alleged that a powerful “tanker mafia” is stealing up to 30 percent of the megacity’s water through a network of illegal hydrants, operating with the covert support of the ruling elite and corrupt bureaucracy.
In a statement today, PDP’s Altaf Shakoor urged the Chief Justice of the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) to take a suo moto notice on what he described as a crucial public issue.
Shakoor highlighted the city’s severe water shortage, stating that Karachi officially requires 1,200 million gallons per day (MGD) but receives only 550 to 600 MGD. He asserted that this insufficient supply, coupled with continuous population growth and a lack of new water projects for decades, is further exploited by the tanker mafia, which profits from the engineered scarcity.
The PDP official also pointed to dilapidated infrastructure as a major contributing factor, with an estimated 45 percent of water being lost to leakages from broken and aging pipelines. The situation is worsened by pumping stations being vulnerable to power failures.
He noted that the long-promised K-IV project, designed to add 650 MGD to the system, remains stalled due to political disputes and significant design flaws.
Concerns were also raised over the government”s failure to address unregulated groundwater extraction by numerous industries and residential colonies, which is causing a sharp depletion of the aquifer. Shakoor criticized the practice of releasing millions of gallons of untreated wastewater into the sea instead of recycling it for industrial use.
As a solution, Shakoor called for the government to launch an immediate crackdown on illegal hydrants, suggesting the deployment of Rangers and the implementation of an active monitoring system by the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB), including live GPS tracking of major water pipelines and performance audits of local officials.
The party urged the KWSB to form rapid maintenance teams to repair leakages on main trunks at Hub, Dhabeji, and Pipri. It was also stressed that an uninterrupted electricity supply to pumping stations must be ensured through dedicated feeders, backup generators, and mandatory coordination with K-Electric.
To rein in the tanker mafia, Shakoor demanded strict regulation of their operations, including fixed per-gallon rates and a system allowing tankers to fill only from designated hydrants, possibly managed through a digital token system.
For long-term sustainability, the PDP advocated for the construction of industrial wastewater recycling plants, citing successful models in Singapore, Israel, and the UAE. Shakoor also suggested building multiple smaller 5-20 MGD desalination units along the coast rather than repeating the failure of the large DHA Cogen plant.
The statement called for a complete reorganization of the KWSB into an autonomous “Karachi Water Authority” with an independent board and a digital billing system to eliminate political interference. Furthermore, he insisted on the completion of the K-IV project with a proper redesign and transparent oversight.
Shakoor also recommended building new reservoirs and rainwater harvesting structures, such as small dams around Malir and Gadap, to capture monsoon runoff that is currently wasted.
Concluding his appeal, the PDP official reiterated that confronting the tanker mafia is the essential first step to mitigating the water crisis. He formally requested FCC Chief Justice Aminuddin to take his first suo moto action on the issue and “save the Karachiites from perpetual thirst.”