Political instability and other unfavourable circumstances have affected the construction of K-IV 150-mgd water project of Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) and delayed it till next year.
Talking to Business Recorder here on Saturday, sources of KWSB, who requested for anonymity, said that construction work of K-IV project was expected to start in the current month and KWSB had completed all arrangement for ribbon cutting ceremony in September.
"The K-IV 150-mgd water project will be inaugurated by President Pervez Musharraf", they added. They said that KWSB had completed PC-I of K-IV project and was ready for inauguration but President had been busy in other issues.
They said that IRSA had started deliberations over the issue to provide 1200 cusecs additional water supply from the Indus River for K-IV project, which earlier had been refused due to unavailability of water in the river. "However, it is hoped that they will accept the demand of KWSB to allow additional 1200 cusecs water for K-IV water project."
Officials of IRSA said that water quota to Karachi had finished with the establishment of K-III water project of 100 mgd. Officials said that water scarcity would create a serious crisis in the metropolis as presently its population stood at over 16 million and was still growing both horizontally and vertically at a rapid pace of nearly 6 percent per year.
Deficiency of Water across the city could damage the industrial production, they opined. Therefore KWSB is making efforts to resolve this issue before becoming as a potential threat not only to people but also for industries, they said.
"Every year numerous skilled and unskilled workers are coming to Karachi from various parts of country rising population immensely in the city and putting direct impact on water resources," they apprised. Officials informed that the water requirement of Karachi has exceeded the figure of 1258 cusecs and water demand is still on the rise, adding that according to statistics, the water demand would shoot up to 1458 cusecs in next three years.
They maintained that Hub dam is the other major source of water, which depends on rainfall and its catchment area of 36,000 sq. kms. Indus River is the most economical and viable source of water for Karachi. The K-IV project will help to overcome water crisis in the city, they said.
In first stage of K-IV project, the KWSB was up grading system of water supply at Kinjhar Lake to ensure the availability of potable water and also for irrigation purposes. "The establishment of K-IV water project will fulfil the water demand." Therefore KWSB is considering establishing more 100mgd projects as K-4 besides enhancing the storage capacity at Kinjhar, Haleji and Hadero.
Comments
Comments are closed.