KARACHI: The Sindh High Court directed on Monday the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) to produce the record for pre-qualification of bids invited for installation of its own power generation plant till Aug 3.

A two-judge bench of the SHC headed by Justice Mohammad Shafi Siddiqui issued the direction after the KWSB officials approached the court to vacate its interim stay order against the pre-qualification process of the bids.

Initially, M/s Premier Batteries Ind. Private Limited moved the court against the process of inviting bids and awarding tender by the KWSB for installation of its own power generation plant at Dhabeji and obtained an interim stay order.

The KWSB through its lawyer approached the SHC and submitted that the water and sewerage utility needed at least 40 megawatts electricity to continue operations in its offices, installations, etc and it has become difficult for the management to pay the electricity dues, which were estimated at Rs46 million per month.

Therefore, the counsel maintained that management had decided to get its own power generation plant installed in order to meet its energy needs, continue smooth operations and save the amount spent on monthly electricity bills.

He argued that the management published advertisements in the print media on Feb 8, inviting bids from interested parties for the installation of an electricity generation plant.

Published in Dawn, August 1st, 2017