14 March 2004	Sunday	22 Muharram 1425

KARACHI, March 13: None of the five ongoing mega projects of the federal government in Sindh is likely to be completed as per schedule unless the remaining funds, allocated for the year 2003-04, are released immediately, informed sources said.

The projects, costing Rs48.38 billion, had been declared by President Pervez Musharraf as 'fast-track projects, and for keeping a track, he used to monitor the progress of work during each of his visit to Karachi.

The projects are feared to hit snags owing to the inordinate delay in release of the required chunk of funds as the executing agencies are finding it difficult to maintain the pace of work and progress. Despite repeated requests by the agencies, the federal authorities have not been paying heed to their calls.

If the situation is allowed to persist any more, it may also affect the PSDP projects for the year 2004-05 in Sindh which are in pipeline, the sources apprehended.

The sources recalled that Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, while presiding over a meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC) in May last, had suggested that the council should meet every six months instead of once in a year so that progress and priorities of the ongoing projects could be reviewed and any bottlenecks removed to ensure timely completion of the projects.

The NEC meeting, which has been fixed for Monday next, is already late by over three months. This means that the executing agencies would have only three months at their disposal to utilize the funds. The sources were of the view that meeting the deadlines of the projects would not be possible if the process of releasing the funds was not expedited.

The five mega projects in question are: Lyari Expressway Resettlement Project, K-III Water Supply Project, Right Bank Outfall Drain-II, Revamping and Rehabilitation of Irrigation and Drainage System, and Lining of Distributaries and Minors.

The Rs2.871 billion Lyari Expressway Resettlement Project was scheduled to be completed by January 2005. Out of the current year's allocation of Rs500 million, an amount of only Rs350 million has been released.

The K-II project is supposed to be completed by December 2005 with a total cost of Rs6.1 billion. It also was to be released Rs500 million during the current year but an amount of Rs350 has been released till date.

The Rs 14 billion RBOD-II project has to be completed in January 2006. Out of its current year allocation of Rs1 billion, an amount of Rs250 million has been released so far.

The completion date for the Revamping and Rehabilitation of Irrigation and Drainage System is June 2008 and its estimated cost is Rs12.96 billion. As against its current year's allocation of Rs1 billion, the authorities have released Rs400 million.

For the Lining of Distributaries and Minors project, no funds have been released though its current year allocation was made at Rs100 million. This project is scheduled to be completed by June 2006 at a cost of Rs12.445 billion.

The sources pointed out that in the past, too, a scheme to improve the supply of potable water in Karachi through reduction in water losses was prepared. Had the scheme been executed, 20 per cent water going waste due to leakage in the obsolete pipelines, laid in early '50s, could have been conserved, they added, and indicated that the plugging work could not be carried out for want of record.

The scheme had been approved by the federal government in the year 2000 and its estimated cost was Rs120 million. The funds were also allocated but withdrawn later and never released since then.

Likewise, another water supply scheme, costing Rs300 million and meant for Karachi, was part of the K-II project that was completed in 1995-96. The scheme had later been withdrawn by the federal government which maintained that it would raise the cost of the K-II project if executed simultaneously. Under the scheme, banks of the KB Feeder canal, from Jamshoro to Kalri Lake, were to be raised and certain siphons widened to ensure additional water supply.