KARACHI, May 15: Work on 14 development schemes, costing Rs537.105 million, in the areas along the coast of Sindh are nearing completion. These schemes have been launched under the ADP 2004-05 in the coastal zones of Thatta and Badin districts.

This was disclosed by the Director-General, Coastal Development Authority (CDA), Sindh, Mr Munawar Opel, while talking to a four-member World Bank mission which visited the CDA Headquarters, recently.

According to the official, the mission was on a fact-finding tour to assess the socio-economic conditions of the two backward districts.

He said the mission had been briefed on various ongoing CDA schemes which included Rehabilitation and Propagation of the Drought Affected Coastal Mangroves, a project costing Rs39.690 million, of Thatta district,.

The other major CDA projects were planting of salt-resistant tree species in the coastal zone (Rs7 million), Marine Fisheries Surveillance (Rs16.447 million), Pen Culture Demonstration in creeks and backwaters of Sindh (Rs8.5 million,) Low-cost Feed Development for Brackish and Marine Fish Culture (Rs19.999 million), Aquaculture Development (Rs29.655 million), Improvement of Livestock in Thatta and Badin districts (Rs39.99 million), Shrimp Breeding in Thatta and Badin districts (Rs19.2 million), and construction of water reservoirs with required pipelines/hand pumps at a coastal village of Thatta district (Rs5.486 million).

The projects also included a feasibility study and designing for the construction of Shah Bandar Jetty (Rs5 million) and preparation of a feasibility report for the development of entertainment and recreation centres in Thatta and Badin districts which included a ferry service from Karachi (Rs12 million).

Mr Opel informed the mission that new projects included increasing the communication access to the coastal belt of Sindh (Rs200 million), Oil-palm plantation on 1,000 acres at four different locations in Thatta district as model farms, along with Oil-palm Extraction Plant of two-ton per hour capacity, (Rs99.138 million) and Sindh Women Economic Elevation Programme (Rs35 million).

The mission was further informed that a master plan, costing Rs3 million, for the coastal areas of Sindh was under scrutiny of a steering committee.

He also said that the works and services department had submitted its PC-1 regarding Coastal Highway between Ghaghar Phatak and Ali Bandar via Keti Bandar, including link and ring roads. The same had now been approved, he added.

The city government has been asked to submit its feasibility report on the highway portion between Paradise Point and Ghaghar Phatak.

The mission was informed that nine projects, requiring federal government’s approval, had been submitted to the provincial government for seeking assistance from development partners.

These included establishment of an oil refinery in Badin district, construction of Keti Bandar power complex, development of a fish harbour on the pattern of Korangi Fish Harbour, installation of oil-palm extraction plant at Thatta, coastal road linking creeks of Badin and Thatta districts, linking Makran Coastal Highway with the Sindh Coastal Highway, Lyari Expressway, Northern Bypass and a road from Islamkot in Mithi district, construction of Shah Bandar Jetty, construction of cold-storages for fish catch at Shah Bandar and Keti Bandar, industrial zones like SITE, KITE, EPZ, etc, and installation of a salt plant at Gharo (for grinding, refining, iodizing, packing and marketing salt).

The mission was informed that the projects worth Rs3.4 billion had been proposed to bring about an improvement in the socio-economic conditions of the inhabitants of coastal areas of Thatta and Badin.