Greater Karachi Sewerage Plan: CM vows to press Centre to share 50 percent cost of S-III project

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that the federal government has backed out of its commitment to share 50 percent of the total expenditures of Greater Karachi Sewerage Plan (S-III) which is an injustice with the people of Sindh. He said that he would fight out to get the share committed by the federal government in the larger interest of the people of Karachi.
He said this, presiding over a meeting regarding completion of S-III project at Committee Room No.2 of CM House, here on Monday. Sindh Minister Local Government Saeed Ghani, Chief Secretary Mumtaz Shah, Chairperson P&D Naheed Shah, Secretary Finance Najam Shah, Secretary Local Government Khalid Hyder Shah, Member Services P&D Khalid Mahmood, acting MD KWSB Ghulam Qadir, Hanif Baloch, PD S-III and other concerned officers attended the meeting.
Briefing the chief minister, LG Minister Saeed Ghani said that the S-III project was aimed at improving environmental and sanitation conditions of Karachi through a well-integrated system of collection, treatment and disposal of sewage. He said existing sewage disposal system lacked treatment facilities and requires conveyance network to divert it to the treatment plants instead disposing it into the sea.
Chairperson P&D said that ECNEC approved the project for Rs 7.98 billion in September 2007. It was decided the federal government was to share 50 percent cost of the project and the remaining 50 percent was to be borne by the provincial government. The scheme was revised and was approved by ECNEC at Rs 36.11 billion on February 7, 2018. The project included two components: Lyari river basin at Rs 21.31 billion and Malir river basin at Rs 14.799 billion.
The scope of the S-III project as revised has been enhanced that's why its cost has increased. The projects encompasses the transmission of flowing sewage in Lyari and Malir rivers basins through underground RCC conduit and its treatment at sewage treatment plants, before its ultimate disposal into the sea.
The plan included: in Malir and Lyari rivers' basins, enhancement and construction of treatment plants, Malir Trunk Sewer, Lyari Trunk sewer and upgrading capacity enhancement of sewage treatment plant at Haroonabad SITE from 51 to 100 MGD. Upgrading and capacity enhancement of sewage treatment plant at Mauripur from 54 to 180 MGD and construction of new Sewage treatment plant of 180 MGD at Korangi.
The chief minister was briefed on current status of Lyari river basin works. He was told that rehabilitation of TP-III for 77 MGD had been completed. Five different packages of sewage transmission of 20.151 kms were substantially completed. The contract package of LS-1, LS-2 & LS-III of 13.169 kms have been awarded in March. Contract package of TP-1, rehabilitation phase had been completed by 55 percent and stage-II expansion works hade been achieved by 12 percent.
Malir river basin: The contract package of MS-1 to MS-III for sewerage transmission for an overall length of 14.950km had been advertised and its bid evaluation reports had been displayed on SPPRA website. Contract package of MS-4 to MS-6 for sewage transmission of 10.091km had also been advertised and the bid received had been sent to the Procurement Committee for Evaluation report. The bid for contract package TP-IV on design, build and operate basis has been cancelled and now re-tendering is being made on construction contract basis.
The chief minister said that Lyari river basin where 77 MGD was being treated should be treated further. He said that should be provided to SITE for industrial purposes. He also directed chief secretary Mumtaz Shah to talk to Public-Private Partnership Unit to work out a plan to invite private partners for tertiary effluent for industrial consumption.
Murad Shah said that with the completion of S-III there would be clean coastal water, it would improve overall health and hygiene conditions which would boost fishery export. It would help in conservation of marine ecology. He vowed to fight out the case of Karachi and would force the federal government to fulfill its commitment of providing 50 percent funds. Sindh Chief Minister also presided over another meeting where he directed Excise & taxation department to introduce readable digital cards in place of vehicles registration books.
He said that the registration books of vehicles have been obsolete all over the world. "We should benefit from modern technology and introduce readable cards on the pattern of banks so that their details can be read during checking," he said. The meeting was attended by Minister Excise & Taxation Mukesh Kumar Chawla, Secretary Excise Raheem Shaikh, Secretary Finance Najam Shah, DG Narcotics Shoaib Siddiqui, DG Excise Shabir Shaikh and others.
Minister Chawla told the chief minister that his department was given a recovery target of Rs 72872 million that they would achieve by the end of this month. The E&T department recovers seven taxes, including motor vehicle tax, excise enactment, infrastructure cess, cotton fee, professional tax, property tax and entertainment duty.