After achieving 30 per cent progress in lining the Kalri Baghar (KB) Feeder Upper lining project last year, work was all set to resume from Dec 20 this year. The work will begin during the annual closure of Kotri Barrage. The barrage feeds an offtaking canal, the KB Feeder, which then fills the Keenjhar Lake — a principal source of urban water usage for Sindh’s capital city.
Usually, there is a fifteen-day closure for the maintenance of the barrage and its four canals during winter, ie from Dec 25 to Jan 10. However, considering the importance of lining the KB Feeder, the closure will be extended to 25 days, as far as the KB Feeder is concerned. The canal will be closed for five days before the scheduled closure and will be opened for regular operations five days later, according to project management.
The KB Feeder Lining project was part of the larger K-IV project that was to ensure the required water needs of Karachi from Kotri Barrage. The lining project was being executed on a 50-50 cost-sharing basis by the federal and Sindh governments after having been approved by the Centre. Project officials, including Project Director Ghulam Mohiuddin, pointed out that this year’s lining work will take the overall physical progress to 75–80 per cent completion. The project was divided into three packages for lining.
Due to new rate schedules, the project cost will stand at around Rs50 billion — up by Rs10bn — after revision (currently pending) is approved. The first cost as per PC-I was approved at Rs39.94bn by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council in July 2023.
Though lining barrages will offer some relief to Karachi’s water crisis, permanent resolution is only possible if extension plans at the water source are set in motion
Karachi needs a quantum of 2,400 cusecs of water as agreed by the federal government at the time of the Water Apportionment Accord 1991. The Sindh government had approached the federal government with a request that the 2,400 cusecs of water for Karachi should be made available for the metropolis exclusively out of the ‘national pool’; the issue is pending before the Council of Common Interests. It was also discussed with the Indus River System Authority, which ensures interprovincial water distribution.
The present execution of the KB Feeder Upper’s lining project will ensure a conservation of 500-550 cusecs of water in Phase I. Subsequently, Phase II of the lining of two non-perennial canals of the Kotri barrage, ie Pinyari and New Phulelli, is supposed to be initiated. This would ensure conservation of 700 cusecs of water, leading to a cumulative saving of 1,200 cusecs, and would meet the actual needs of Karachi, ie 2,400 cusecs.
The lining project was being executed by the Sindh irrigation department. Mr Mohiuddin noted that the KB Feeder gets a discharge of 9,000 cusecs, by and large, from Kotri Barrage, inclusive of Karachi’s 1,200 cusec requirement. Once the lining under Phase-I is completed, the barrage will be in a position to save 500-550 cusecs of water that would eventually be diverted to Karachi.
The KB Feeder is a perennial canal that also caters to the agricultural needs of the Thatta and Jamshoro districts before it ends up in Keenjhar Lake in the Thatta district. The Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation lifts water from the lake through the Keenjhar-Gujjo canal for its water supply system to meet the drinking water needs of Karachi’s burgeoning population.
The bigger K-IV, or Greater Karachi Bulk Water Supply Scheme, has been under progress since 2011 by the Water and Power Development Authority at a cost of Rs126bn. It aims to provide 650 million gallons per day (MGD) of water to Karachi from Keenjhar Lake in two phases, ie 260 MGD in Phase I and 390 MGD in Phase II. During a recent visit to the K-IV site, the Wapda chairman promised its completion sometime in 2026 while linking it with timely funds’ releases under the project.
The Indus River remains the principal source of drinking water supplies to Karachi from Kotri Barrage. The barrage itself lies at the tail-end system of the Indus River System and often faces unprecedented shortages. Surplus flows, if any, are seen only during monsoon season. But shortages quite evidently and invariably remain 70–80pc in the April-May period, undermining Kharif crops’ cultivation even in perennial canals’ command areas.
According to World Urbanisation Prospects 2025, released by the United Nations and reported last month, Karachi is set to become one of the 10 largest cities in the world between 2025 and 2030, with rapid population growth expected to continue through the mid-century. The metropolis could stand as the fifth largest with a projected population of almost 33m by 2050.
Considering the city’s drinking water needs, a separate scheme for ‘Extension of the Keenjhar Lake’ in addition to lining works is being planned. This scheme has been worked out at a total cost of Rs170bn and was forwarded to the Ministry of Water Resources after having been okayed by the Provincial Development Working Party (PDWP) in March this year for inclusion in the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP).
“The [Keenjhar] lake must have a backup support system for meeting 2,400 cusecs of dependable water supplies to Karachi. This can only be achieved when Keenjhar Lake is expanded,” said retired chief engineer, Haji Khan Jamali. He last served as Kotri Barrage’s Chief Engineer. According to him, the Kotri barrage remains under stress during and after the December period.
“The lining works of KB Feeder Upper, New Phulelli and Pinyari will definitely ensure conservation of water, but we should not lose sight of the fact that the last two non-perennial canals that run for six months of the summer season don’t get the required quantum over the rest of the period; therefore, without enhancing Keenjhar Lake’s capacity, somewhat reliable supplies for Karachi will remain a tricky affair,” Jamali said.
According to the concept paper of the lake’s extension plan, a continuous supply of 1,200 cusecs depletes the lake to a dead level (RL44) in 55 days without inflow. With an inflow of 600 cusecs, it hits dead level in 105 days. Keenjhar Lake has a live storage of 0.429 MAF currently.
However, the K-IV execution that includes an additional 1,200 cusecs supply (as mentioned above) would take the total quantum of water to 2,400 cusecs, which means that the lake would hit dead level within 28-60 days, thus posing a threat to its sustainability. Therefore, “augmentation of Keenjhar Lake is imperative to maintain storage levels and ensure a sustainable water supply to Karachi”, according to the scheme’s concept.
Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, December 15th, 2025
