Islamabad - The Sindh government has Thursday assured the federal government that the remaining land acquisitions for Greater Karachi Water Supply Project (K-IV) as soon as possible.
Minister for Planning Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar Thursday held a meeting to discuss progress on Greater Karachi Water Supply Project (K-IV). MNA Najeeb Haroon, Chairman WAPDA, Chairman, P&D Government of Sindh, Ministry of Water Resources and senior officials attended the meeting. Chairman WAPDA gave a detailed presentation on the project including its physical and financial progress, issues associated with the project and decisions required for the implementation of the project under new arrangements. The meeting emphasized that there is a severe water shortage in Karachi and therefore the project needs to be carried out on a fast track and all the agencies involved are committed to fast track/ prioritizing the project.
It was decided that a summary of the change of execution agency would be sent to ECNEC so that WAPDA could formally take over the project. In the meeting, WAPDA was given the go-ahead to hire a consultant as soon as possible to review the technical issues and give the go-ahead for the final decision on which the revised PC-1 will be made. During the meeting, Sindh Government assured that the remaining land acquisitions would be completed as soon as possible.
In October last, the federal government had directed WAPDA to immediately take over implementation responsibilities of the Greater Karachi Water Supply Project (K-IV). The Greater Karachi Water Supply Scheme (Phase-1) was approved by the ECNEC to supply 260 MGD of water to Karachi metropolitan which is being taken up for implementation by the federal government as part of Prime Minister’s package for Karachi. Under the financing mechanism, the cost of the project was shared by the federal and provincial governments based on 50:50 per cent. The project was being undertaken by the provincial government, however, the federal government has taken over the responsibility under an arrangement with the provincial government.
The share of the federal government in Greater Karachi Water Supply Project (K-IV) is Rs.12.755 billion while the total expenditure (released by the federal government) up to June 20, 2020, is Rs.10.398 billion. The federal government has allocated Rs.800 million in the PSDP 2020-21. It is expected that after extending the scope of work of the project, its cost will further go up.