KARACHI: The Provincial Coordination and Implementation Committee (PCIC) in its second meeting on Friday decided to launch a waste-to-energy electricity project for which necessary measures would be taken at the earliest.

The meeting was attended by Karachi Corps Commander Lt Gen Humayun Aziz, provincial Ministers Syed Nasir Shah and Awais Qadir Shah, Chief Secretary Mumtaz Shah, GOC-Karachi Maj Gen Aqeel, Administrator Iftikhar Shallwani, Commissioner Sohail Rajput, provincial secretaries Shariq Ahmed, Najam Shah and others.

The matter of lifting of garbage came under discussion in the meeting and it was pointed out that out of 15 garbage transfer stations (GTS) only six were operational, therefore, revival or reconstruction of six other GTS was agreed.

The body recommends procurement of electric buses for Green Line project

The meeting was told that the landfill sites would be filled very soon, therefore, a power plant might be installed for waste being collected from the city. The power generation from the waste would not only burn the waste and save the land.

The meeting decided to work out a plan to generate power from the waste being collected from the city at the earliest. It was also decided that the firms interested in the project would be invited for submission of their proposals.

Survey of five drains completed

The meeting was told that the survey of five storm-water drains had been completed.

It was informed that Gujjar nullah had a length of 13 kilometres with 210-foot width as per the master plan, and 5,961 households, 41,581 individuals and 2,412 commercial units were established along its embankments.

It was stated that the Orangi nullah had 12.5km length, 100 to 150-foot width and 4,480 households, 27,000 individual settlements and 380 factories were established along its embankments.

Similarly, the Mehmoodabad nullah had 4.1km length, and 100 to 200-foot width, while 1,049 households, 5,900 individual settlements and 156 commercial settlements along its embankments.

The Malir River had length of 30km with 1,700-2,000-metre width and had 1,996 households, 12,336 individual settlements/encroachments. The Lyari River is the longest river with 50km length and 300-500-foot width as per the master plan.

The meeting was told that the NED University was conducting a survey with the terms of reference to analyse the width and capacity of existing 44 major storm-water drains, survey of nullahs with a number of physical structures and drone-assisted mapping and outline of encroached land.

It was disclosed that the survey of five nullahs had been completed and the remaining work would be completed by Nov 15 this year.

Technical study

The meeting was informed that in phase-II a hydrologic and hydraulic modelling survey of the drainage would be conducted for demarking existing drainage network, modelling tools to quantify the expected flows in the region, existing cross-section details of the nullahs to be used to assess the capacity of existing sections to cater to the flows to be conducted.

The chief minister said that an ideal cross-section would be proposed for each drain based on terrain and flow models for current and future improvements and the best management plans for drainage network to mitigate the risk of urban flooding.

The meeting discussed purchasing buses for Green Line for which it was proposed to procure electric buses which might be operated by private operators.

The meeting set a timeline for different tasks for completion of the projects, including repair of 106 existing roads by the KMC.

Published in Dawn, October 10th, 2020