Former president Asif Ali Zardari inaugurated Asia’s biggest Reverse Osmosis (RO) plant, having the capacity to filter two million gallons per day, in Mithi, Tharparkar and directed the Sindh government to complete the project of 750 Reverse Osmosis (RO) plants in Tharparkar by June 2015, to provide clean drinking water to all the villagers of the desert. In the past one decade, the Sindh government had installed 83 Reverse Osmosis (RO) plants to turn brackish water into drinkable water for the region but most of the plants are unfeasible because they were installed without any feasibility study done, though it is mandatory for setting up any development or construction scheme.
Tharparkar's total population was two million and their water requirement was 20 million gallon per year but these RO plants supplied only 4.5 million gallon per year, whereas shortfall of more than 15 million gallons was still there. At present under the Rs 5 billion schemes, the Sindh government has proposed to install 750 RO plants by June 2015. In order to make the people of Tharparkar self-sufficient, there is desperate need of evolving feasible solar based (RO) plants, handicrafts, livestock, dairies farming, agriculture, creation of jobs and income generating opportunities there.
SHAIKH ABDUL RASHEED,
Shikarpur, Sindh, January 11.