Karachi Mayor Looks to ‘Lahore Model’ to Fix Water and Sewerage Crisis
KARACHI: Facing mounting criticism over the city’s chronic water supply and sewerage problems, Mayor Murtaza Wahab has signaled his willingness to learn from Lahore’s experience, calling for modern reforms and institutional collaboration to tackle Karachi’s long-standing civic challenges.
Leading a high-level delegation of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC), the mayor visited the headquarters of the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) in Lahore. He was received by Punjab Minister for Housing Bilal Yaseen, Wasa Chairman Chaudhry Sher Ali Khan, Vice Chairman Chaudhry Shehbaz Ahmed, and Managing Director Ghufran Ahmed.
According to a statement issued by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), officials provided an overview of Lahore’s operational model, technological integration, and service delivery mechanisms.
Mayor Wahab acknowledged the scale of Karachi’s water and drainage issues and stressed the importance of adopting best practices from other major urban centers.
“Karachi can further improve its water supply and drainage systems by learning from Lahore’s successful models and experiences,” the statement quoted him as saying.
Speaking to reporters, the mayor objected to direct comparisons between Karachi and Lahore in terms of infrastructure and governance, noting that both provincial capitals operate under different ground realities.
During the visit, a reporter asked Wahab why the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) had failed to deliver what the public wanted despite ruling Sindh for years. At that point, Punjab Minister Bilal Yaseen intervened, asking media persons to be “mindful of respecting the guests,” according to muqaami.pk.
The Karachi delegation was briefed on key aspects of Lahore’s water supply and sewerage systems, including revenue collection, infrastructure management, and the use of modern monitoring technologies.
The visit signals a potential shift toward cross-provincial cooperation to address Karachi’s deepening water and sanitation crisis, though the mayor cautioned that direct comparisons between the two cities remain unhelpful given their distinct challenges.