December 24, 2008	Wednesday	Zilhaj 25, 1429

KARACHI, Dec 23: The recently-installed DHA desalination plant has been lying non-functional since a technical fault rendered it out of order on Sept 20.

The issue was taken up by a delegation of the Association of Defence Residents (ADR) with DHA Administrator Brig Khalid Tirmizi, who held out the assurance that the plant would be made functional at the earliest.

He was informed that the middle hollow shaft of the gas turbine rotor was damaged due to excessive vibrations. Other parts of the plant also sustained damage as a result. The delegation was told that the plant was under warranty and, therefore, arrangements were being made to get the fault rectified through the manufacturers and other firms concerned.

The delegation was further informed that a model Sunday bazaar was being organised in Phase-VIII from March next year. All essential facilities such as parking, play area for children, food courts, toilets, besides security, would be ensured at the bazaar, he added.

The administrator stated that reconstruction and rehabilitation of the roads damaged during the development work for the laying of drainage system in DHA had been started on December 15 under a DHA-CBC joint project. The work would be completed within the current financial year, he hoped.

He said that door-to-door garbage collection, cleaning in commercial areas and improvement in sanitation through intensive sweeping twice a day would soon bring about a pleasant change in the DHA environment.

Zeenat Ahmed of the Cantonment Board Clifton told the meeting that the CBC had replaced more than 1,500 missing manhole covers in DHA recently, but most of them had been stolen again. She said that CBC was now considering fixing more robust manhole covers firmly embedded in the ground.—PPI