News @ 3 - 10th Dec 2016

KARACHI: Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah on Saturday laid the foundation stone for a water supply pumping project in the city, ARY News reported.

The project will supply 100 MGD water to Karachi, which will be brought from Keenjhar Lake in Thatta district. The project will be completed within two and a half years with an estimated cost of Rs 1.47 billion.

CM Murad, while addressing the ceremony, said that the project will help reduce the water shortage facing the city. He said that the water pumping projects in Dabeji and Pipri were insufficient to cope with the increasing demand of water in Karachi. He said the Dabeji project was established during the first stage in 1959.

This new project will also help reduce the water losses at other pumping stations at Dhabeji, and improve the existing water supply by 50 MGD. He also said that ongoing water projects will be completed soon.

“The government of Sindh is launching Rs. 1.2 bn project to rehabilitate the existing water pumping projects,” he said. Furthermore, he said that Sindh government has given Rs 1.3 bn to K-Electric to improve the electrical works at the Dhabeji Pumping Station.

He expressed dissatisfaction that the government of Sindh is paying Rs. 500 million electricity bills per month to the K-Electric on behalf of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB), which can be saved if the water board set up their own power station.