Institutional reforms in water supply arrangements in Karachi

Karachi's water supply service has experienced a continuing decline in both quantity and quality and various categories of consumers have suffered owing to these falling standards. The service, which is presently controlled by Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB), has been managed through different institutional arrangements involving different municipal organisations. These changes were introduced with the objective of improving the operational status, performance level and financial strength of the utility. Research was carried out to obtain feedback from related stakeholders including utility management, interest groups, relevant experts and civil society organisations. The methodology adopted for this research work comprised a review of institutional records, interviews with key informants and observations of service delivery mechanisms in various parts of the city. An absence of political will across various levels of policy making and implementation, legal anomalies, incomplete integration of KWSB into the main stream city government, ineffective revenue recovery from consumers and rising trends of unaccounted water remain the outcomes of inadequate institutional performance. This paper presents the existing status of water supply arrangements in Karachi with focus on institutional issues. Possible policy options, including ‘no change’, disaggregation, dissolution and consolidation of the utility, are also discussed.