Govt spending over Rs760m to improve Qasimabad

Project plans are based on estimated 1.8 million residents by the year 2035.

HYDERABAD:

Both the federal and Sindh governments are spending over Rs760 million to improve the roads and sewerage in Qasimabad tehsil, where an influx of migrants has exceeded the infrastructure.

The main features of Qasimabad’s development plans include the construction of four-kilometre-long gravity sewers, called Brick-Lined Integrated Surface (BLIS), at the cost of Rs360 million, five kilometres of main roads, several secondary roads and an unresolved Rs150 million underpass or overhead bridge to be built at Nasim Nagar Chowk.

The Qasimabad tehsil is spread over 49,800 acres, with more than 250 housing schemes and 70 katchi abadis or unplanned settlements. The current population is 400,000 but it is growing at the rate of eight per cent, mainly because people from rural areas are settling here.

“We are planning our systems for 1.8 million people which is the number of people expected to be living in this area by the year 2035,” said Engineer Shafi Muhammad Lakho, a Qasimabad Development Project consultant. He was addressing a press conference on Saturday along with Sindh Fisheries Minister Zahid Bhurgari, project director Altaf Ahmed and other officers.

According to Lakho, the malfunctioning of sewerage lines operated through pumping stations was a common problem in all cities of Sindh and the gravity-based system of large-sized sewers was new to the province. Gravity sewers are huge networks of underground pipes that carry wastewater and storm water to a central facility for storage or drainage. The sewers being built in Qasimabad will be 11 feet high and six feet wide.

“The BLIS system, which will have the capacity to carry 70 millimetres of rainwater per hour, has been introduced in Larkana. The project in Jacobabad district, worth Rs650 million, is under way,” he said.

Under the new plan, the district government will buy 50 acres near Rajputana hospital, where rainwater drained through BLIS will be stored for agriculture. “The six-foot-deep land will have the capacity to hold 81.41 million gallons, enough to irrigate up to 300 acres of agricultural land,” Lakho added.

He admitted, however, that maintaining a constant downhill gradient of the sewers to assure self-cleaning flows was beyond the expertise of the engineers working on this project. “It is for this reason that we, the consultants, are also offering engineering services and will also guarantee their functioning,” he asserted.

Bhurgari pointed out that the Sindh government has released another Rs100 million only two days ago in addition to the Rs148 million released earlier. A total of Rs360 million were allocated for the Qasimabad development package. “Last week, PPP MNA Amir Ali Shah Jamote was sanctioned Rs400 million from the Planning and Development Department for development schemes in Qasimabad,” he added. Bhurgari explained that the funds for the repairs and construction of five-kilometre roads will be provided by the chief minister while the money for secondary roads will be taken from Jamote’s funds.

Another issue in the development project is the construction of an overhead bridge or an underpass at Nasim Nagar Chowk - an extremely busy intersection where traffic jams occur from morning to night. The problem remained unresolved as the minister said that a meeting of all stakeholders has been called on April 29 for a final decision to be made. The cost of the underpass project is Rs150 million while the overhead bridge will be built with up to Rs450 million. Lakho, who opposes the overhead bridge, told The Express Tribune that vested interests were pushing for the proposal. Even if the overhead bridge is built, it will not resolve the traffic problem, he said. “It will be as redundant as Shahbaz bridge and Hosh Muhammad bridge.” These two bridges were built during the previous government’s tenure.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 25^th, 2011.