KARACHI, July 21: City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal has urged the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) to set up one more filter plant of 100 million gallons of water per day in the limits of North-East Karachi pumping station so as to bridge the gap between filtered and unfiltered water currently being supplied to the city.
Presiding over a meeting of the KWSB senior officials, the nazim, who is also chairman of the water utility organisation, asked the KWSB managing director, Brig Iftikhar Haider, to expeditiously prepare feasibility and the PC-1 of the filter plant, costing Rs2,000 million, so that each and every locality of the city is supplied filtered water.
Underscoring the need for setting up filter plants prior to bringing water to the city from its sources, the city nazim said that the city government’s top most priority was to improve the quality of life of the common man by providing them all the basic necessities, no stone should be left unturned in providing clean and healthy water to the citizens, besides improving sewerage system.Informing the nazim about the KWSB’s existing filter plants’ capacity, Brig Haider said that of the total 629 million gallons of water per day currently being supplied to the city, 445mgd was being filtered thus leaving a gap of 184mgd of water which remained unfiltered.
He said that 115mgd of water was filtered at the COD filter plant, 50mgd each at Pipri’s new and old plats, 25mgd at North-East Karachi’s old plant, 100mgd at NEK’s new plant, 80mgd at Hub plant and 25mgd at Gharo filter plant.
The KWSB chief said that with the commissioning of 100mgd K-3 project, another filter plant with a capacity to filter 100mgd of water would be set in the limits of the NEK pumping station at an estimated cost of Rs2,000 million.
He said that though the plan of setting up a filter plant at the NEK pumping station could not be undertaken earlier owing to financial difficulties that had surfaced in the project’s actual and revised PC-1.
However, Brig Haider hoped that the federal government would accord its approval to the plan as it was strictly in accordance with its policy of providing clean water to the citizens; besides the city nazim had also taken up the issue before President Musharraf at the inauguration ceremony of the K-3 project.
Meanwhile, the KWSB has prepared a Rs6,433 million comprehensive plan for treating domestic sewerage and industrial waste and directed the KWSB to immediately prepare its PC-1, APP adds.
Briefing the city nazim about this project, the KWSB managing director informed that at present the city generated around 400mgd sewage.
He said that the water board, with 151mgd sewerage treatment capacity, was treating only 90mgd and rest 309mgd untreated sewage flowed into the sea and its quantity would increase with the supply of K-III water.
The KWSB chief pointed out that sewerage water fell into sea from seven different points through Lyari and Malir rivers, Nahr-i-Khayyam and Frere, Picture, Kalri and Railway drains.
It was further told that Rs2,100 million would be required for installation of plants for the treatment of sewerage carried by Malir river, Manzoor colony river and from other adjoining localities while Rs500 million would be needed for treating Lyari river water and Rs500 million for linking Malir and Lyari rivers with drains.
The KWSB chief informed that Rs500 million would be spent for upgrading the treatment plants I, II and III and thus 100 per cent treated water would be allowed to go into the sea while industrial waste would be treated at TP-4.
Approving the project, the city nazim called for preparation of its PC-1.
