KARACHI, Nov 28: The Asian Development Bank has provided funds for clean drinking water supply and sewerage system schemes in over 5,000 union councils across the country.

This was stated by Sindh Minister Shoaib Bukhari while replying to supplementary questions in the Sindh Assembly session on behalf of the provincial minister for public health engineering, Mohammad Adil Siddiqui, who was not present on Friday.

Mr Bukhari said the ADB provided funds to the federal and provincial governments which were then released to district governments for carrying out the projects.

MPA Syed Ghulam Shah Jilani asked why the provincial government did not earmark funds for uplift projects in rural areas, as some district governments were lacking funds. The minister replied that the Sindh government would ensure release of funds to those districts.

When MPA Jam Tamachi Unnar raised objection that water supply projects were being carried out in the villages where subsoil water was already sweet, Speaker Nisar Ahmed Khuhro asked Minister Shoaib Bukhari why the villages where subsoil water was brackish and which needed clean water supply projects were left. Mr Tamachi said clean water was not being supplied to villages even after the completion of ADB-funded projects simply due to lack of electric motors operation to run the system because no department was ready to pay power dues.

Mr Bukhari said: “We will focus on operation and maintenance system in these projects so that people can benefit from these schemes practically.”

The house was informed that there was also scarcity of potable water in Taluka Johi comprising Kachho area. The department carried out complete survey of the area and PC-1 for the year 2007-08 was submitted to the respective district government for various programmes. It was said that cost and expenditures of water supply schemes – functional, non-functional and under process in villages of Taluka Johi, Dadu district, estimated Rs25.114 million. But the district government could not start the uplift works for the want of required funds. If the balance funds were released, the schemes would be completed and made functional for the benefit of public, the assembly was informed. Besides, it was said that no drainage scheme was approved for Hyderabad for the fiscal year 2008-09.

MPA Arif Mustafa Jatoi claimed that untreated sewage and industrial waste were being released into canals, which was very harmful not only to humans but also to animals. Mr Tamachi said untreated sewage was being released into the River Indus and canals in Hyderabad.

When Speaker Nisar Ahmed Khuhro asked the minister to ensure that only treated water be released into canals, Mr Bukhari assured him of doing so and said there was a difference between water and sewage treatment plants.

Mr Bukhari said the public health engineering department was carrying out schemes in small cities and rural areas instead of Karachi and Hyderabad as huge funds were required to start such projects in the mega cities.—PPI