KARACHI: Local Government Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon has said arrangements have been made to install a desalination plant with a capacity to convert four million gallons daily (mgd) of seawater into potable water, which will reach Karachi before Ramazan.

A few more desalination plants will also be installed in the next three months with a capacity to convert 20mgd seawater into potable water which would further help meet water needs of the city.

Mr Memon, who was speaking at a press conference after returning from Dubai in his office at Clifton on Monday, said the Sindh government had made all preparations for holding local bodies elections on Sept 20 and had told the election commission to make arrangements for the polls.

Also read: Tanker operators blame water crisis on govt officials

He said during his visit to Dubai he had signed agreements with different companies for installing rental desalination plants to convert seawater into potable water. He said the 4mgd capacity water plant would be installed in Karachi before Ramazan while next month a memorandum of understanding would be signed for the installation of a plant with a capacity to convert 80mgd seawater into potable water. In addition to that, he said, the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board had already started work on 65mgd and 100mgd water supply projects while on June 10 Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah would perform the groundbreaking of the K-IV water project.

In reply to a question, he said free water supply from 1,000 tankers daily continued in water scarcity areas in the city under the supervision of deputy commissioners. Likewise, the minister said, the government had initiated some projects in different districts for water supply through the public health engineering department, for which Rs700 million had been allocated in the current budget.

He said besides Tharparkar, where 700 RO plants were being installed and 350 had already been installed, similar plants were being installed in other districts, including Sanghar and Achro.

Mr Memon said the government had also started repairing roads and streetlights in Karachi and LED lights on all main arteries while an agreement had been signed with a private firm for the installation of surveillance cameras on vintage points which would help in curbing terrorism and street crimes in the city.

In reply to another question, he said arrangements made in the province would not be like the preparations made by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government for the local bodies elections during which many people were killed and wounded. He said the polls in KP had exposed the hollow slogans of ‘new Pakistan and new Pakhtunkhwa’.

Replying to another question, the minister said Zulfikar Mirza was no more relevant in politics and it was futile to talk about him.

He said there was no truth in reports of having given water connections to Bahria Town projects.

Published in Dawn, June 2nd, 2015

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