Water Shortage May Lead to Closure of Textile Units: Firoz

Voicing concern over persisting water shortage in all industrial zones of the city, Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry’s (FPCCI) former vice president Gulzar Firoz has apprehended that if the situation continued to persist, it will lead to closure of many textile processing units, “Production of a number of textile processing units has already declined considerably in the wake of acute water shortage,” he added.
Firoz, who is also former chairman of PTA and KATI, said that the country will suffer badly in case exports orders were either cancelled or delayed. Urging the authorities to save the textile processing units from being closed down, he opined that Sindh government could help resolve the lingering issue of water shortage by setting up Reverse Osmosis (RO) plants on war-footing basis in all industrial areas of the metropolis.
Another industrialist claimed that more than 50 per cent industries of the city, including export-oriented industries, have been incurring huge financial losses in the wake of persisting water shortage. “Reputation of the country will be at stake if the industries failed to honour their commitments concerning export orders,” he added. Criticising the authorities concerned for not providing required quantity of water to the industries, he said that cost of production had increased manifold as in the absence of water supply they have no choice but to purchase water from tanker mafia at exorbitant rates. He demanded of the KWSB managing director to restore water supply to all the industries of Korangi on priority.