KARACHI: Industries across Hub district in Balochistan are facing severe water shortages despite the Hub Dam being almost full, with leaders of the Hub Chamber of Commerce and Industry alleging that industries, farmers and residents are being deprived of their due share of water.
Former Hub Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Ismail Suttar and President Yakoob H Karim have appealed to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to intervene immediately to avert what they described as an impending industrial, agricultural and humanitarian crisis.
They warned that unless water supplies to Hub’s industries and growing population were brought in line with actual demand, several industrial units could be forced to suspend operations within weeks, putting thousands of jobs at risk and dealing a serious blow to the national economy.
“Hub is the industrial backbone of Balochistan. If industries are deprived of water, production will come to a halt, workers will lose their livelihoods and the country will suffer significant economic losses,” they said.
The chamber leaders said Hub contributes more than Rs7 billion annually in taxes to the national exchequer. They cautioned that prolonged water shortages will not only reduce government revenue but also adversely affect exports, investment and industrial growth.
According to the chamber, Hub has only one source of water — the Hub Dam — while Karachi receives supplies from multiple sources. Despite this, they alleged, Hub continues to receive an inadequate share of water.
They said the current allocation provides 36.7 per cent of the water to Hub and 62.3 per cent to Karachi, despite a substantial expansion in Hub’s population, cultivated land and industrial base over the past four decades.
They recalled that when the water-sharing formula was established in the 1980s, Hub’s population stood at about 20,000, with five industrial units and around 1,000 acres of cultivated land. Today, they said, the population has exceeded one million, the number of industrial units has risen to about 300 and more than 25,000 acres are under cultivation.
However, they maintained that Wapda continues to implement a four-decade-old allocation formula that no longer reflects current realities.
Suttar and Yakoob Karim further said the Hub Dam is almost at full capacity and that, following ongoing monsoon rains, its spillway gates might once again have to be opened, potentially inundating nearby villages.
“Ironically, while excess water may eventually be released from the dam, the people, farmers and industries of Hub are struggling to obtain even their legitimate share,” they said.
The Hub Chamber leaders claimed that industries have been receiving far less water than required for the past two months, forcing many factories to operate well below capacity while others had curtailed production.
If the situation persisted, they warned, widespread factory closures and a sharp rise in unemployment will become unavoidable.
