Pakistan: Imran Khan calls for resolution of Karachi’s drinking water problem

Karachi: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan has issued orders to officials to ensure at that clean drinking water is provided to residents of Karachi

Khan issued the directives to this effect as he chaired a meeting at the head office of Karachi Port Trust to review the Karachi Transformation Plan during his short visit to the provincial capital.

He was briefed by officials that the residents of Karachi had been facing scarcity of potable water.

The city was being supplied 1,200 cusecs of water, including a daily supply of 100 million gallons of water from Hub Dam, in the nearby area of Balochistan province.

The K-IV is a bulk water supply scheme conceived for Karachi by the Sindh government as both the provincial and federal governments made commitments to provide financial resources to execute the project. But the implementation of the scheme has been delayed for over a decade due to various technical and financial reasons.

The federal government has now taken up the long-delayed project as its final design will be ready by October 2021. The federal authorities aim to complete the project by October 2023.

Khan was also briefed on the Green Line section of Bus Rapid Transit Service (BRTS) would become functional by October this year as being the first mass transit system in Karachi. The buses to be plied on the Green Line section will reach the Karachi Port from China by mid of September.

The Sindh government is building the Orange Line section of the BRTS as the provincial authorities have also been tasked with the federally run Sindh Infrastructure Development Company Ltd to bring 20 buses for the project. These buses will reach Karachi by December.

Khan said that the federal government gave top priority to the ongoing federally-funded development schemes in Karachi to ensure their completion at the earliest. While at the same time, it aims to announce new development plans for the city.