THAR people do not seem to have the right to safe drinking water.

A judicial commission report says: “At Rin Shakh Pumping Station, Naon Kot, sufficient water (19 MGD) in nine big sedimentation ponds/tanks taken from Mithrao Irrigation Canal remains available but deliberately only a 12-inch-diameter pipeline has been laid to curtail water supply time to justify business of R.O. Plants.

In this whole scheme, the involvement of officials of departments concerned cannot be ruled out.

The district management has completely failed to note this situation and to take steps to redress the wrong.”According to the report, 778 reverse osmosis (RO) plants have been installed, 700 by the Special Initiative Department, and 78 by Sindh Coal Authority. Only 412 RO plants are functional, while 156 are nonfunctional.

The judicial commission report says all the RO plants have been entrusted to a private company, for maintenance and operation by Special Initiative Department and Sindh Coal Authority.

The special initiative department, the energy department and the Sindh Coal Authority have installed 3,104 RO plants, even in towns where sweet water is available in plenty. The total cost of installation of RO plants comes to nearly Rs. 93 billion.

Operation and maintenance cost, payable to the private company is Rs21bn per year, for the work that involves simply switching the pump on and off once a day.

Nearly half of the RO plants are nonfunctional, and most of the functional plants produce contaminated water.

Tharis are, therefore, denied their right to safe drinking water for commercial reasons.

A citizen
Karachi

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2017