Is K-IV a pipe dream?

TWENTY years is a long time. Long enough for children to grow up and have children of their own. When K-IV (or the Greater Karachi Bulk Water Supply Scheme) was conceived in 2006, my son and daughter were 19 and 14, respectively. Today, I am a grandmother. Karachi has changed. So has my life. But some things never change — I still rely on water tankers. I’m not alone. The entire lane in my Clifton neighbourhood has depended on water tankers for years. When water does come through the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation’s (KWSC) pipes, we often avoid it because of recurrent sewage contamination in our underground tank. The exercise of emptying, cleaning and refilling it is costly and cumbersome. We pay a hefty amount every other week for tanker water. Bargaining is not an option —risking it means they may not show up again, as demand is high. It is in moments like these that the K-IV project comes to mind — Karachi’s long-awaited answer to its water woes. First proposed over two decades ago, the 650 MGD scheme was approved in 2014 after another eight-year delay, yet remains unfinished, leaving millions still waiting for water from Keenjhar Lake. Experts say costs have increased almost seven-fold, from Rs25 billion to Rs171bn, an increase of about 583 per cent. They are likely to increase due to delays that the experts can foresee. The K-IV project has faced funding constraints and repeated delays since its inception, with deadlines repeatedly missed and project heads changed. After a nine-year delay, it was inaugurated in June 2015 by then chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, followed by two re-inaugurations — by Sindh governor Dr Ishratul Ibad in 2016 and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in 2023. Karachi’s K-IV project has faced funding constraints and repeated delays since its inception. When investigative journalists Mahim Maher and Sohail Khan published their landmark 2019 exposé on K-IV — a piece that doubles as a masterclass on Karachi’s water supply system — the