CM inaugurates water project in Dhabeji

Project will cost Rs1.43 billion and be completed in 18 months

HYDERABAD: Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Saturday laid the foundation stone for a 100 million gallon per day (MGD) water project for Karachi, pledging to holistically address the city's water supply. The ceremony was organised in Dhabeji, Thatta, where the CM performed the groundbreaking for the Rs1.43 billion project which will be completed in 18 months.

The pumping station at Dhabeji, located around 50 kilometres east of Karachi, is already supplying around 500 MGD to the city. It draws water from the Kalri Baglihar Feeder Canal, which is one of the four canals which spring from the Kotri Barrage on the Indus River. Shah said an additional Rs1.2 billion is being spent on overhauling the existing pumping stations at Dhabeji in order to address the problem of the station's reduced capacity. "I have directed the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board's managing director to ensure that all the work is completed by May, 2017," he told.

Under the Rs1.43 billion project, six new pumping stations will be built in Dhabeji. Two of these pumping stations will be kept on standby, while the remaining will supply water.

The CM said the provincial government paid tens of millions of rupees in power bills to K-Electric, yet the station's power supply is often disconnected or some other electric supply problem disrupts round the clock functioning.

"The government is planning to build a power plant for Dhabeji pumping station to address the supply disruption problem," he said. Shah also asked the district administration and local government officials of Thatta district to supply water to the residents of Dhabeji, Gharo and other adjacent areas from the station.

Sindh local government minister Jam Khan Shoro also spoke on the occasion.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 11^th, 2016.