ISLAMABAD-Central Development Working Party (CDWP) Tuesday referred Greater Karachi Water Supply Scheme (K-IV) 260 MGD (Phase-1) worth Rs25,551.77 million to Ecnec for approval. The CDWP also asked Sindh government to assure that they will pay the provincial 50 per cent share on time, an official source told The Nation.  Central Development Working Party (CDWP) meeting chaired by Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Mohammad Jehanzeb Khan, approved three projects worth Rs5.52 billion and recommended one project worth Rs25.22 billion to ECNEC for consideration. The CDWP referred Greater Karachi Water Supply Scheme (K-IV) 260 MGD (Phase-1) worth Rs. 25,551.77 million to ECNEC for approval. The K-IV designed with a total capacity of 650 MGD (Million Gallons per day) to meet the demand of 18.5 million inhabitants of Karachi City. The project being executed by Gov. of Sindh was an extraordinary delay in execution were noticed. Hence the Sindh Government was requested to change the executing agency as WAPDA. Deputy Chairman Planning Commission emphasised 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. In its previous meeting, the CDWP in principle approved the position paper for K-IV and allowed Sindh government to place it before the ECNEC for changing the sponsoring and executing agencies of the project from province to federal government. 
The cost of Rs25.551 billion incurred on Phase-I of Greater Karachi Water Supply Scheme (K-IV) is equally shared between the Federal and Provincial governments. Around 41 per cent physical progress and 47 per cent financial progress of the project have been achieved.  The project envisages supplying 260 million gallons per day of water to Karachi in Phase-I. The Project was earlier being undertaken by the Sindh government, however, the federal government, under an arrangement with the Provincial Government has now taken up implementation of the project as part of the Karachi Transformation plan and directed WAPDA to immediately take over the implementation responsibilities. It was also decided that Government of Sindh will submit Position Paper for implementation of the K-IV Project under new arrangements envisaged in the Karachi Transformation Plan for Consideration by the CDWP and Position Paper will include physical and financial progress, the status of clearance of liabilities and availability of land.
The CDWP also approved a project related to the Governance section presented in the meeting for extension in the implementation period of “Young Development Fellows (2nd Revision)” worth Rs133.720. The program aims to groom talented young women and men with distinguished academic background and potential for leadership. This program will enhance the capacity of young Pakistanis in the area relevant to Planning Commission such as development, strategic planning, performance management & evaluation, project management, energy, public policy formulation and development communications. Another project titled “Provision of Clean Drinking Water in Model Areas UC-99, 100 & 101, Lahore” worth Rs. 1655.185 million was approved in the meeting. A project related to Education namely “Renovation/ Rehabilitation of Physical Infrastructure of 200 Educational Institutions under Prime Ministers’ Education Reform Program in ICT, Islamabad (phase-II)” worth Rs3,737.288 million was approved by CDWP. The revised project envisaged for construction of 237 classrooms, repainting/renovation of infrastructure, repair of floors, rising of boundary wall, provision of concertina with barbed wire, construction of water tank etc.