KARACHI: The creation of Bhambore division and the government’s undue delay in appointing its commissioner and deputy commissioner have blocked the process of land acquisition for the K-IV water scheme for the past nine months, it emerged on Wednesday.

Any further delay in filling the vital posts would scuttle work on ‘Greater Karachi bulk water supply scheme’ — better known as K-IV — and exacerbate the water scarcity problem facing the metropolis, sources warned.

The process of land acquisition which was moving ahead smoothly after the creation of Bhambore division in April last year had almost come to a halt since Thatta district, which used to be part of Hyderabad division, had now been made part of the new division and the government had not yet filled the posts of commissioner and deputy commissioner of the Bhambore division and district, said the sources.

The sources said the project director of the K-IV scheme had written to the authorities concerned, drawing their attention towards the blockade of land acquisition process and advised them to fill the vital posts immediately to enable the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board to commence work on the K-IV project as soon as possible.

The K-IV scheme has been planned to carry drinking water from the Keenjhar lake to the city to meet the water needs of over 20 million population and the acquisition of land for the 1,000-foot-wide supply, right from the lake to Karachi — a distance of 124 km — commenced in 2012.

Of the 124kms, 70kms pass through Malir district in Karachi and comprises 8,255 acres, out of which over 2,036 acres is private land and the rest of over 6,218 acres is public property.

A declaration for 8,255 acres was signed by Karachi Commissioner Shoaib Siddiqui on Jan 26 and for over 5,002 acres by the Thatta deputy commissioner. Out of over 2005 acres, only 46 acres was private land and 4,956 acres was owned by the government, said the sources.

Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2015

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