Water crisis
FOR the past few weeks, Karachi residents have been experiencing extraordinary disruptions in their water supply. A power breakdown led to the closure of operations at the Dhabeji pumping station,…
Contaminated Lahore
PAKISTANI cities are highly mismanaged. Their governing structures are opaque, centralised, and rigidly bureaucratic. As a result, they do not cater to the needs of large swathes of their residents.…
Gaza’s water crisis
“The water is back,” one family member would announce in a mix of excitement and panic, often very late at night. The moment such an announcement was made, my whole…
Water sustainability in Pakistan – II
Waste discharge into drains and rivers has resulted into deteriorating water quality According to a study, 50 million people in the country are at risk of arsenic poisoning from contaminated…
Solar energy powers clean water, business opportunities for refugees
Sadick Thenest remembers how his 8-year-old daughter had a narrow brush with death two years ago, when she contracted cholera after drinking contaminated water. "She was so gaunt, weak and…
Running Dry: Competing for water on a thirsty planet
In India's 'Silicon Valley' tech hub of Bangalore, where gleaming office complexes and apartment blocks have sprouted faster than the plumbing to serve them, only 60% of the water the…
In drought-hit Delhi, the haves get limitless water, the poor fight for every drop
In this teeming capital city of more than 20 million people, a worsening drought is amplifying the vast inequality between India's rich and poor. The politicians, civil servants and corporate…
Is water free?
Although water sustains life, it is ironically one of the most undervalued natural resources. The misconception of water as an unlimited free resource is especially prevalent in developing countries. This…
Cities with no water
Water scarcity is a condition that surfaces when water resources are insufficient to fulfil people’s usage demands. For any region or country, water scarcity occurs if the availability of water…
Water security
“Water is not only for life … water is life.” This quote by the UN secretary general “reflects the critical importance of water as a need that connects all aspects…
