KARACHI, Sept 7: The city’s new master plan up to 2020 is likely to be finalized in three or four months and a current master plan study being conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency on city’s water and sewerage would be incorporated in it.

Initially the master plan would be up to 2020, but the city Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal has asked the consultants to modify the same for the next 50 years so that the city could make rapid progress in every sphere of life in a planned manner.

This was stated by City Naib Nazim Nasreen Jalil while speaking at a meeting of various stakeholders, jointly organized by the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board and the JICA at a local hotel.

Endorsing the viewpoint of a participant that no significant improvement can be achieved in municipal services unless affairs of the entire city come under one umbrella, Ms Jalil said the city has suffered a lot in recent rains mainly because its affairs were being managed by 13 different civic agencies.

Speaking about encroachments over Glass Tower Nullah, she said since the elite residing in adjacent bungalows had set up parking lots, swimming pools, tennis court and lawns on the nullah leaving no space for kundi men to get it desilted and cleaned, it played havoc in the recent rains, causing sufferings to residents of Bath Island, Gulshan-i-Faisal and Clifton.

She said although the nullah was encroached upon by highly influential people, the City Nazim Mustafa Kamal did not waste time to remove encroachments from nullah, paving way for the KWSB to launch a major desilting operation of the nullah.

Ms Jalil informed the representatives of the stakeholders that water currently being supplied to the city is sufficient but there is a dire need to improve the water distribution system.

She said keeping in view the rapid population growth in the city, the city Nazim has already requested the president to allow Karachi to draw 1200 cusecs of water from Indus source so that the city could meet its future water needs.

Emphasizing the need for saving marine life from pollution, she said the city government and the KWSB have planned setting up of two more treatment plants so that entire sewage is treated before its disposal into sea and the president has been requested by the Nazim to direct the federal government to bear the cost of setting up of the treatment plants.

KWSB’s managing director Brig Iftikhar Haider informed that the KWSB has successfully embarked upon its town-based restructuring plan and it matches the JICA’s district network improvement (DNI) plan to improve its water and sewerage systems.

He said though there is sufficient water, the KWSB lacks proper water network owing to criss-cross lines.

About Karachi’s sewerage system, Brig Haider said unfortunately the city’s sewerage system depended on nullahs and storm-water drains, but it is since 1997, the KWSB had been endeavoring to segregate the sewerage system from nullahs and storm-water drains.

The KWSB, he added, would overcome its distribution network problem following completion of the JICA’s study which is aimed at preparing the city’s water and sewerage master plan up to 2025.

Replying to a query from SKAA’s director-general, he said that the katchi abadis of the city are part and parcel of the JICA study.

The city was, at present, being supplied 640 million gallons of water per day as compared to Rawalpindi’s total supply of 45mgd which means that the city was being supplied water of 10 cities equivalent to Rawalpindi.

Earlier, JICA team leader Mr Sawara said the study which would be completed by the end of 2007 is aimed at maintaining a 24-hour continuous supply with a good pressure, ensuring safety of water, installation of water meters to all consumers, banning use of suction pumps, minimizing illegal and unauthorized connections, minimizing water leakages, developing GIS-based accurate customer database, enhancing consumers’ awareness in efficient water-use, hygiene education, etc through seminars and workshops.

JICA’s environmental specialist Ms Yamada and JICA’s sewerage planning expert, Mr Nakao, also spoke.