KARACHI - Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Friday approved schemes and funds for installation of treatment plants at various canals in the province to improve drainage of water.

He said this while presiding over a meeting on sewerage system and installation of treatment plants to stop flow of sewerage water into canals, at Chief Minister’s House.

The meeting was attended by Chief Secretary Rizwan Memon, STEVTA Managing Director Rafiq Bararo and other provincial officials.

The meeting decided to make combined affluent treatment plant at Kotri operational and the chief minister approved Rs35 million for the plant.

The chief minister was informed during the meeting that 32 industrial units were disposing off their waste directly into canals. He was informed that 11 industrial units had installed their treatment plants while the remaining were working on them. He was informed that Shikarpur was disposing its wastewater into Begari Canal. On this, the chief minister approved a Rs505.73 million scheme to improve the sewerage system in the area.

He also approved Rs1406.068 million for improving drainage system in Sukkur and Rs25 million were released immediately to initiate work on the project.

When informed about release of drain water into the Rice Canal in Larkana, the chief minister approved Rs1,400 million for the drainage system of the area. He also approved Rs1,283.93 million for drainage system of Qasimabad and Rs1,280 million for rest of areas of Hyderabad.

The chief minister also mulled over installation of treatment plants in SITE area of Karachi with an estimated cost of Rs11 billion. The chief minister said that every industrial unit was bound to install its own treatment plant and they were essential for improving environment and controlling pollution so that the city could have a healthy atmosphere.

He said the government was striving to install treatment plants in all cities of the province and in this regard they were working to improve sewerage system of the province.