Slashdot Mirror
Coastal Megacity Karachi Is Running Out of Water (earther.com)
The Pakistani megacity of Karachi, home to more than 20 million people, is among the most water-stressed cities in the world, only able to meet half of its daily water demand. From a report: Karachi requires 1,100 million of gallons per day (mgd), but only receives 550 mgd, according to the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB). Karachi's water is sourced from the Indus River via Keenjhar Lake, which sits more than 90 miles away from the city. The water shortage in Karachi is linked to myriad factors including climate change, mismanagement of water resources, and corruption. Most of all, however, a rising population increasing at a rate of 4.5 percent a year creates a strain on the finite water supply. Pakistan ranks in the top ten of countries worst affected by climate change, and water shortages are likely to deepen in both intensity and frequency in the coming decade.
I'm running out of beer and the Grocery Outlet is closed and I'm too buzzed to drive. And I'm supposed to be upset because Karachi's running out of water just because there are 20 million people there? You SJWs really suck, you know that? Who's going to stand up for me, huh? Nobody, that's who. Wait, I think I just heard my neighbor come home. I bet he's got some beer. Never mind.
Happy Memorial Day everybody!
You are welcome on my lawn.
Pakistan has gone from 40 million people in 1955 to 200 million in 2018. That is a 5 times increase in less than 65 years. Is there anyone who thinks that is sustainable? http://www.worldometers.info/w...
Obvious solution: Raise the price of water.
Higher prices will incentivize consumers to conserve, producers to produce, and distributers to fix the leaks in their pipes.
In the end, they can leave or deal with water scarcity. It sounds like things aren't bad enough for people to leave and improvements are impossible, so deal with it they will.
Pretty sure the order of causes are corruption and water mismanagement followed by climate change being the crack that drained their fresh water supply.
Right, because they get their water from the same place.
You fucking idiots will do anything to try and blame shit on the US.
water from rivers is free. But agreed, who needs fresh drinking water to flush the toilet? Maybe they should have thought about a greywater system in the 65 years it took them to go from 50 to 200 milion people?
A far better story: Parched for a price: Karachi's water crisis
... stealing water in Karachi is an industry worth more than half a billion dollars." (each year)
... manages a household of 5 people on an income of roughly $190 a month.
Quotes:
Perween Rehman: "It is not the poor who steal the water. It is stolen by a group of people who have the full support of the government agencies, the local councillors, mayors and the police; all are involved."
"Shortly before her murder, Rehman spoke to a documentary crew, who were making a film about her work."
More:
"The scale of the theft is staggering.
"Ali Asghar, 75, says he still has to pay bills to the utility company for water that never comes in the pipes."
Another problem:
Family size.
"... Farzana Bibi, 40,
"... his entire household of 17 people is dependent on water bought from tankers."
Al Jazeera is generally a good place for such news. However, this story has no date. It was apparently written in 2017.
So, the parent comment is exactly correct.
Cut off all emigration from Pakistan and let them deal with their own problems. Overpopulation has its consequences. China knew it and implemented the One Child Policy to great success. Europe (and colonies) and East Asia have dealt with their population problems and now have stable or declining rates. If South/West Asia, the Mid East and Africa can't figure it out themselves, we're not going to bail them out by taking millions of their excess people.
The number of children per woman in Pakistan has decreased rapidly in the last decades to now around 3 children per woman (2.3 is required for population to just be static in the long run). The only reason the population still grows is many children growing up and having (on average 2-3) kids of their own. There is no statistic link between religion and population growth.
See here: https://www.google.com/publicd...
Or if you do only trust the US, check the CIA:
https://www.cia.gov/library/pu...
Moritz
If you want to understand how big the issue is, then "they only get half the water the need" is a good description.
1.1 billion gallons, or 4.2 million cubic meter are equally useless for proper visualization.
You got it! Karachi is home to more than 20 megapersons and is only able to meet about 5 decidemands of water per day.
Incipiamus, fratres, servire Domino Deo, quia hucusque vix vel parum in nullo profecimus.
They need to use Desalination
The problem is in units of people. 10 million too many. Good luck trying to save the planet by banning plastic grocery bags while the third world is breeding like locust.
Yes but is it half the water they need in gallons? We Americans don't understand metric fractions.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Acre-feet for the win.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
We need to be doing more of that in America. We are going to see shortages sooner, rather than later.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
There may be areas in which Al Jazeera is not helpful.
However, if, like me, you live in the U.S. and have never been to the countries Al Jazeera covers most, the articles are often far ahead of others on the same subject.
You said, "They covered a ceremony in my hometown and claimed eight people died. No one died."
Could you tell us more about that?
Actually, large cities generally use less resources per person than small cities or rural areas.
And Pakistan has an average of 2.62 kids per family which is hardly "breeding like locusts". Replacement fertility is probably about 2.4 in Pakistan, so they are barely over replacement.
Actually imperial units are still in widespread usage here even within engineering groups. My company uses metric for softwaee, but physical stuff like structures or antennas gets done in foot pounds and the like. I am a proponent of switching, but they tried that 40 years ago and the only thing that stuck was liters on bottles of diabetes, er soda.
refactor the law, its bloated, confusing and unmaintainable.