KARACHI, Oct 9: Around 100 million gallons of water per day will be provided to the city through the Hub canal on the eve of Ramazan, Brig Asif Ghazali, the new head of the city government’s water and sanitation department, said.
Speaking at an introductory meeting with newsmen on Thursday, he said that works pertaining to strengthening of the Hub water supply system was at present underway and on its completion by Oct 23, the city would gradually start getting 100 mgd of water ahead of Ramazan.
Admitting that there existed a wide gap between water supply and its demand, he deplored that no proper planning was done in the past for meeting the city’s water requirements, in view of its population growth, which was as high as 5.6 per cent.
Emphasising the need for using recycled water for industries and horticultural purposes, he pointed out that not only a huge quantity of water was being wasted owing to leaking pipelines, but a considerable quantity of potable water was being used by industries and for watering plants.
In this regard, he said that work on the K-3 project, whereby the city would get additional 100 mgd water in January 2005, was progressing satisfactorily, while feasibility for another 100 mgd project (K-4) was currently underway.
In addition, a Rs1.5 billion PC-I for water losses reduction and meter installation plan had been prepared, he said.
He also disclosed that plans were being made to set up sewage recycling plant on built-operate and transfer (BOT) basis, so that the recycled water could be used by industries and horticulture and the fresh water, currently being used for these purposes, could be diverted to water-starved areas.
DESALINATION PLANT: About the proposed desalination plant, Brig Ghazali said that its feasibility report was currently being prepared, but due to dumping of industrial waste, untreated sewage water and the pollution caused by the oil tanker, Tasman Spirit, in the sea, the task of selection of the site for the the plant had now become a major problem.
However, a parallel study was currently being undertaken to select the site for the proposed desalination plant and to target the people who would be able to afford the costly desalinated water, he added.
Referring to Rs29 billion Karachi package, he said that of this an amount of Rs9 billion would be spent on setting up a treatment plant at Landhi, desilting of sewerage lines in all the 18 towns, rehabilitation of outlived sewerage lines and on the extension of sewerage lines in new localities.
Regretting that a considerable quantity of untreated sewage was currently being disposed of into the sea, he said that with the setting up of the proposed treatment plant, the sewage will be treated before its disposal into the sea, to save marine life and its ecology.
Referring to the W&S department’s financial constraints, hampering new water and sewerage schemes, he said that major causes of its monetary crunch were the poor recovery of water charges and high electricity bills.
He urged the citizens to ensure that their water bills were paid regularly, so that more new schemes of water supply and sewerage could be launched in the city.