KARACHI, June 17: The city government’s water and sanitation department has prepared a Rs5 billion balanced budget for the fiscal 2003-04, well-placed sources told Dawn.
The new budget’s size is bigger by about Rs500 million as against the previous one of Rs4.49856 billion.
It will be for the first time that a water and sanitation authority’s budget is being presented along with the city district government’s budget to the City Council for approval.
The W&S department’s budget documents show an anticipated income of about Rs2.5 billion and a similar amount under the head of its total expenditure, making it a balanced budget.
The capital receipts for the next fiscal have been estimated at Rs2.5 billion which is equal to the current receipts under the head of water and sewerage charges.
Divulging the details of the W&S department’s budget proposals, sources say that an amount of Rs2.5 billion has been earmarked for development works as against Rs1.6 billion earmarked in the fiscal year 2002-03.
Highlighting the salient features of the budget, the sources said that an amount of Rs2 billion had been earmarked for the ongoing Greater Karachi Water Supply Scheme (K-III) under which the city would get an additional quantity of water upto 100 million gallons per day. So far, around Rs1.3 billion have already been spent on the K-III.
The scheme is estimated to cost Rs6.103 million and being funded by the federal government, It is scheduled to be completed in 2005.
The other allocations made in the budget include Rs13.8 million for the rehabilitation of Jamila Street sewerage pumping station; Rs13 million for undertaking a survey of underground water; and Rs36 million for tapping future water supply source from Keenjhar Lake to Karachi.
The W&S department’s major heads of non-development expenditures are: Salaries (Rs1 billion), Electricity (Rs1.4 billion), employees’ medical facilities (Rs50 million), purchase of alum and chlorine (Rs25 million) and maintenance/replacement of pipelines (Rs225 million).
Like in the previous year’s budget, no amount has been earmarked under the head of water tankers service as the task of supplying water to the city’s deficient pockets from the W&S department’s hydrants has been assigned to rangers.
POWER CHARGES: About the electricity charges, the sources pointed out that Rs1.4 billion, more than one-fifth of the total budget, will go to the KESC. This heavy expenditure, they added, was one of the major factors contributing to the W&S department’s inability to allocate sufficient funds under for development and maintenance works.
The sources argued that when the federal government could offer a subsidy of Rs53 billion to Wapda and KESC, the government, either federal or provincial, could also bear W&S department’s electricity bill of Rs1.4 billion.
SEWERAGE: Referring to the rehabilitation work of Jamila Street’s sewerage pumping station, for which an amount of Rs13.8 million has been allocated in the next budget, the sources said that W&S department was laying a new rising main to improve operational efficiency of the pumping station because both the rising mains, which are of docile iron of 30-inch dia and 32-inch dia, of the station was in a dilapidated condition.
At present there are two rising mains, laid to dispose of the sewage lifted from the pumping station. The sewage is discharged into Lyari interceptor sewer and collected at Mauripur Treatment Plant (STP-3) for treatment and ultimate disposal.