Karachi
In the heart of District East, Karachi, lies Welfare Colony—a marginalized area cursed by the absence of clean water. For more than 15 years, residents have been forced to rely on saline bore water, with no supply of safe drinking water. This prolonged deprivation has turned into a health disaster, leaving almost every household with at least one patient.
Skin diseases, gallstones, joint disorders, kidney problems, and gastrointestinal ailments plague the community. Children suffer rashes and fungal infections, while adults live with chronic pain and organ damage.
“Every family here has someone who is unwell because of the water we drink,” shared Sajjad Qureshi, a local resident. “Fungal infections are the most common, and they affect nearly everyone in our community. We desperately need free medical camps to address these issues.”
The Qureshi community, the majority in Welfare Colony, lives under crushing poverty, unable to afford costly private treatment. Government hospitals remain largely inaccessible due to their inefficiency and lack of quality care.
Amid these hardships, residents placed their hopes in the multi-billion-rupee Karachi Water and Sewerage Services Improvement Project (KWSSIP), implemented in collaboration with the National Engineering Services Pakistan (NESPAK) and National Rural Support Programme (NRSP). However, nearly two years into its launch in Welfare Colony, KWSSIP has failed to provide even a single drop of clean water to the residents.
Instead of relief, frustration is growing. “We keep hearing about big projects, but our taps remain dry. What good are these schemes if the people they promise to serve are still thirsty?” questioned Ramzan Qureshi, another resident of the colony.
The case of Welfare Colony exposes not just a water crisis but also a governance failure. It underscores how costly projects mean little when they fail to deliver on their promises. Until concrete action is taken, the people of Welfare Colony will continue to suffer silently—caught between poverty, illness, and broken promises.
