KARACHI – The Managing Director of Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) Misbhauddin Fareed has directed the officials to implement the policy of installing hidden cameras at government hydrants to check the water theft. These hidden cameras would not only record the tanker's plate number but also the date, time of arrival and time of departure as well. According to the statement, the KWSB was formulating and adopting new policies and procedures to increase the revenue and Complimentary (Gratis/Free) Tanker Service was also discontinued recently as a measure.
The KWSB MD said that the decision to install cameras on hydrants and maintain computerized record has been made to stop illegitimacy and improve the KWSB revenue. In order to meet the ever increasing water demand and to ensure swift provision of supply facilities in the future, it was necessary to increase financial resources of the department, he said.
Directing to maintain computerized record of tanker dispatch, he hoped that with the implementation of the new system the KWSB revenue would be increased and procedures would be crystal clear.
The MD directed the chief engineer and concerned staff to ensure that boosters or any other high power pumps, which may cause disruption in the regular supply in the surrounding areas, were not used on any government hydrants. He directed that a single policy must be implemented on all hydrants. Later, he paid surprised inspection visits to SITE Hydrant, Sakhi Hassan Hydrant and other hydrants of the city. He inspected the operations, records and operation timings and directed the hydrant in-charges to strictly follow procedure and maintain proper record.
He said that all government hydrants would only operate for 8 hours and strict action would be taken if the schedule was not maintained.
Moreover, he said that the hydrants were not allowed to use boosters or high power pumps since these machines disrupt the regular water supply in the surrounding areas and warned that strict action would be taken against any hydrant found using these machines.
Meanwhile, the KWSB MD also directed the RRG Department to ensure timely billing and addition of new consumers on the tax network to increase the revenue.
He also requested the government offices, semi-government offices, private offices and citizens to pay their water bills on time so that the KWSB could ensure better provision of facilities.