KARACHI, April 24: The first phase of the biggest and first of its kind power and water project in Pakistan, DHA Cogen Power and Desalination Plant, was formally opened here on Thursday after the implementation of all of its major requisite tests.

A press briefing was organised by the DHA to inform the media about the salient features of the project.

The DHA project director Creek City and Special Projects, retired Brigadier Dardar Javed Ashraf Khan, hoped that the project would help address the problem of water and power shortfall in the city.

After the completion and initiation of its first phase, the plant costing $120 million approximately is operating on its full load capacity, supplying three million imperial gallons (MIGD) of potable water per day along with 94 megawatts of electricity. And after the completion of its second phase, costing up to $185 million, the production of water and electricity is expected to go up to five MIGD and 105 megawatts, respectively.

The Defence Housing Authority (DHA) had conceived the project some five to six years ago so as to help overcome the electricity and water shortfall in the city.

It was made clear at the conference that the DHA which had a 26 per cent equity share in the project’s sponsors’ share holding had been given no special advantages by the government such as tariff relaxation including tax exemption, etc.

The DCL, according to the project director, after going through all the warranted government requirements during its planning and construction, stands on its own merit.

Explaining the operations of the project, the chief executive officer of the DHA Cogen Limited (DCL), Waqar Mohsin, said that in order to produce three million gallons of water on a daily basis, around 47 million gallons of water would be sucked from the sea and boiled to certain temperature to remove the salt content and to produce clean water as per the World Health Organisation’s standards.

When asked about the impact of this project on the environment particularly with reference to the marine life, he assured the audience that the project in question would not cause any damage to the environment. “The temperature of the water that is returned to the sea, at 39 degrees Celsius, is much less than what the law of the land requires,” he said adding that the department of Oceanography had already approved the project.

“As the DCL generates water and power and is not into distribution, the water is supplied to the Clifton Cantonment Board (CCB), who pay Rs110 per 1,000 gallons while the power goes to the KESC Mehmoodabad and Creek City grid stations and it is up to them where these are diverted but the DHA being at the tail end of their supply should benefit more than the other city areas,” said the DCL official.

In reply to a question regarding the carrying out of any seismic survey before the construction of this 10-acre mega project by the sea, and that too on a fault line, retired Brigadier Javed Ashraf said: “We have built everything keeping the international standards in mind. The DHA has reclaimed much less land than Dubai, for instance, and we are following the same safety standards that are followed in that country.”