KARACHI, April 27: With the reforms being brought in the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board and the appointment of new managing director, citizens have hopes that the water and sewerage system may improve in the days to come.
At present, several roads in the city are inundated with sewage due to choked lines causing inconvenience to commuters, particularly the pedestrians.
It was observed that choked sewerage lines on Sir Aga Khan-III Road, Manghopir Road from Valika Chowrangi to Banaras Chowk, Shahrah-i-Liaquat near Light House and Jama Cloth Market are creating a mess on the busy thoroughfares. Due to blocked sewerage line in Jama Cloth Market, sewage has started overflowing inside Khaliqdina Hall.
The business community in Light House have criticised the officials concerned for not taking notice of the situation.
“We have been suffering for the last monsoon as the officials never bothered to take serious steps to solve the problem on permanent basis,” the shopkeepers said.
The overflowing sewage and water leakages on Manghopir Road have badly damaged the main road at various spots which is a major cause of the daily traffic jams.
Pedestrians and motorcyclists are the worst sufferers, who are unable to protect their clothes from the filthy water.
When contacted, the superintending engineer of KWSB in Saddar Town, Ghulam Qadir, said the existing sewerage lines were about 50 years old.
PC-Is of lines in different areas were sent to the concerned authorities for approval, he said adding that the problems got complicated due to financial constraints.
About the sewage in Khaliqdina Hall, he said it was over flowing from the service connection of the nearby staff colony. He claimed the main trunk line was not choked.
The superintending engineer said some of the problems were created due to the ongoing replacement of sewerage lines on Dr Ziauddin Ahmed Road.
He said the replacement was planned one year ago, but it kept pending for the police department’s permission. He said the sewerage line on Sir Aga Khan-III Road was in the jurisdiction of Saddar Town.
The Saddar Town nazim could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.
MoU SIGNED: The KWSB signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a Norwegian firm M/S AQUALYNG having joint venture with M/S Green Energy Development for installation of a 25 million gallon daily water desalination plant in Karachi on BOO (Built Own and Operate) basis on Friday here at a local hotel.
It was informed that the proposed plant would be installed at the coastal belt of Karachi for meeting the additional requirement of water in the adjoining areas.
The total cost of the plant including its operation and maintenance, estimated to be around Rs125 million, will be borne by the BOO contractor while the land for the installation of the plant will be provided by the city government.
Speaking as chief guest at the MoU signing ceremony, City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal said that the plant would initially start producing 25MGD desalinated water which would gradually increase to 200MGD on a daily basis.
He said that the city government was making all-out efforts to solve the lingering issues being faced by the masses especially water shortage.
The chief executive of M/S AQUALYNG, Shaikh Umer Farooq, said that his firm had already installed 14 such plants successfully in various countries.
KARACHI, April 27: With the reforms being brought in the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board and the appointment of new managing director, citizens have hopes that the water and sewerage system may improve in the days to come.
