KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah has constituted two committees — one for an early implementation of the K-4, S-III and other water projects and the other for resolution of the water rate issue pertaining to SITE — so that water issues of immediate nature could be solved.

The committee that would deal with the K-4, S-III and other projects is headed by Local Government Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon while chiefs of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB), the consultant concerned, and the Karachi commissioner are its members. This committee has been assigned the task of preparing and submitting a roadmap for resolution of matters within a week.

The other committee headed by the secretary of industries with representatives from SITE, the KWSB and industrialists as its members, has been asked to work out recommendations in detail within a week.

The chief minister presided over two meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday at CM House on water issues and directed the executing organisation to complete the installation work of 1,800 reverse osmosis plants in Sindh, including 750 in Tharparkar district, by the end of the current financial year.

Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister said that the K-4 water project of Karachi was listed in priority projects of the government and organisations concerned should prepare a strategy so that the project could be completed within the shortest possible time. He also asked consultants to prepare a plan for desalination and use of seawater.

He said although work on the S-III project for treatment of sewage of Karachi had been started and up till now Rs970million had been utilised, its completion within its approved cost of Rs8 billion seemed difficult.

He said that since this project comprised two components each for rehabilitation of existing water treatment plants, and installation of a new water treatment plant, the committee should go through its achievements, segregate the components and prepare a roadmap for the feasibility of at least completion of the component of rehabilitation and upgrade of the existing treatment plants within the shortest possible time and recommend further course of action for completing the works for establishment of new treatment plants.

The participants in the meeting were informed that the 1st phase of the K-4 water project had been approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council at its estimated cost of Rs25.55 billion but its technical and financial proposals were yet to be finalised. They were further informed that its first phase capacity was designed to supply 260 million gallon per day (MGD), 260 MGD in 2nd and 130MGD in 3rd phase, whereas the work on S-III had already been started which was in progress.

The managing director of the Pak-Oasis company, which was assigned to install the RO plants in Sindh, while briefing the meeting, said that a tender for installation and solarisation of RO plants in Sindh was floated in August 2014, and subsequent work on the project was in progress.

He said that they would be able to complete the 300 RO plants by the mid of December 2014 in Tharparkar district only whereas the whole project for installation of 1,800 RO plants in Sindh, including 750 in Tharparkar, would got completed by the close of this financial year in June 2015.

He said that since subsurface water level in Karachi was too deep due to lack of rains, he was preparing a scheme of desalinising 1,100 MGD seawater, which would be more suitable to meet water shortage in Karachi.

Forming the other committee to resolve water issues including fixing water rate pertaining to SITE in Karachi, the chief minister said that he was aware of the water problems of industries and common citizens and had called a comprehensive meeting to address the issues.

Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2014