Addressing Social Inequality and Improper Water Distribution in Cities: A Case Study of Karachi, Pakistan

Shahmir Janjua, Ishtiaq Hassan, Muhammad Umair Ali, Malik Muhammad Ibrahim, Amad Zafar and Sangil Kim
Additional contact information
Shahmir Janjua: Department of Civil Engineering, Capital University of Science and Technology, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
Ishtiaq Hassan: Department of Civil Engineering, Capital University of Science and Technology, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
Muhammad Umair Ali: Department of Unmanned Vehicle Engineering, Sejong University, Seoul 05006, Korea
Malik Muhammad Ibrahim: Department of Mathematics, Pusan National University, Busan 46241, Korea
Amad Zafar: Department of Electrical Engineering, The Ibadat International University, Islamabad 54590, Pakistan
Sangil Kim: Department of Mathematics, Pusan National University, Busan 46241, Korea

Land, 2021, vol. 10, issue 11, 1-15

Abstract: Inhabited by almost 20 million people, Karachi, also known as the “city of lights”, houses almost 60 percent of the industries in Pakistan and is considered as the financial and industrial center of the country. The city contributes almost 12–15 percent to the gross domestic product (GDP), showing its significance in Pakistan’s economy. Unfortunately, with the increase in population, the city is facing a serious shortage of water supply. The current allocation of water among the city’s districts is not equitable, which has caused water scarcity and even riots in some areas. Surface water and ground water are the two primary sources of water supply in the city. The water supply provided by Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) is approximately 650 million gallons per day (MGD) against a demand of 480–866 million gallons per day (MGD), resulting in a serious shortfall. Keeping a holistic view in mind, this paper focuses specifically on proposing measures to address the gap in proposing concrete solutions to manage Karachi’s increasing water woes. It also proposes a water allocation mechanism and uses Nash bargaining theory to address the inefficient and unequal water distribution. Results indicate that our suggested policies and water allocation mechanism have the potential to simultaneously resolve the supply–demand mismatch and water shortage problems of the city.

Keywords: social inequality; Karachi; Karachi water and sewerage board; Nash bargaining theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/10/11/1278/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/10/11/1278/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:10:y:2021:i:11:p:1278-:d:684160

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().