It was the middle of the year which heralds the end of the annual fiscal period and the beginning of a new one. On June 8, 1971, the 1971-72 budget estimates for the Karachi Development Authority (KDA) amounting to Rs1,142.68 lakhs (114.268m) was passed by the authority’s governing body. The important feature of it was that ‘consequent upon’ the completion of the second phase of the Greater Karachi Bulk Water Supply Scheme at a cost of Rs853 lakhs during the current financial year, an additional water supply of 70MGD (gallons per day) had become available.
A few days later, on June 12, KDA’s director general Illahi Bux Soomro addressed a press conference at COD Hills Filter Plant saying that the KDA was trying to supply pure drinking water to the city but if “there were any lapses on its part it would take remedial measures to minimise water contamination.” He admitted that on occasion there was a possibility of contamination at a few points, particularly as the water pa