SC puts officials on their toes to complete water and sanitation projects

KWSB blames Sindh govt for lack of progress on water treatment projects

KARACHI: The Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) has reportedly been dumping 450 million gallons household and industrial effluent into the sea for the past 10 years. The unchecked disposal of pollutants poses a threat to marine life and will take at least four years to resolve.  Barring any delays in the release of funds, the water board expects to complete its household sewage and industrial waste management projects S-III and Combine Effluent Treatment Plants by 2022. The deadlines have been set according to the Supreme Court ruling, however, the projects might face delays due to bureaucratic bottlenecks, political interference and corruption.

Completion of the S-III project has been delayed for the past 10 years due to lack of interest of the provincial and federal governments, keeping one of the biggest water and sewage management projects out of the board's reach. After approval in 2007, KWSB engineers hastily devised feasibility reports and a PC-I for the project. It was agreed that the Rs8 billion cost would be borne equally by the provincial and federal governments.

Intimating the government about the expiry and suspension of all of its three treatment plants, the Water Board had requested an immediate release of funds. However, neither the provincial nor the federal government paid any heed to the projects until 2013 when the funds were finally released. However, when a newly-appointed consultant firm carried out a review of the projects, the cost soared to Rs36 billion, inviting a great deal of criticism and reservations from the federal government. The Centre chose to release funds as per the previously approved PC-I, according to which it had to release Rs4 billion between 2013 and 2017. The provincial government has already paid its Rs4 billion share but so far the federal government has only released Rs2 billion.

According to sources in the KWSB, the S-III project which was to be completed by 2016 is nowhere near completion at the end of 2017. In the past four years, the project has only seen 90% completion of the conduit between Mauripur and Yaseenabad passing along the Lyari River, whereas construction of the conduit between Yaseenabad and Surjani Town has not begun due to lack of funds.



The shortage of funds has also affected the extension and development of the TP-I and TP-II treatment plants in Haroonabad and Mauripur. Progress on these plants is dismal, as just 15% of the work has been completed. However, this is still better than the progress on TP-III Mehmoodabad and TP-IV Korangi plants, which have not even been started.

"The provincial government has failed miserably to clear the encroachments built around TP-II," said sources in KWSB. They added that following a review after four years, the federal government’s Central Development Working Party (CDWP) finally approved the revised PC-I of the project with an estimated cost of Rs36 billion and an endorsement from the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) is awaited. ECNEC reportedly approved a budget of Rs11.7 billion for an industrial waste management project - Combined Effluent Treatment Plant - last month, after years of delay.

Project director Imtiaz Magsi told Express News that after going through the revised PC-I, the federal government no longer holds any reservations over the S-III project and a go-ahead is awaited for the revised cost of Rs36 billion. The CDWP has also approved the revised PC-I and an approval from ECNEC is also expected. "If the funds are released on time, phase I of the S-III, covering the transmission line in the Lyari River and TP-I and TP-III, will be completed by the end of 2018," Magsi explained. "Phase II of the project, covering the Malir River transmission line and TP-IV, will take another three years."



According to the feasibility report, the daily management capacities of TP-I and TP-III are 100 million gallons and 180 million gallons respectively, while TP-IV will be able to treat 180 million gallons of sewage every day. If the provincial government hands over the site for TP-II, the treatment capacity can go up by another 25 million gallons a day. Put together, the treatment plants under the S-III project will have a combined capacity to process, clear and dispose of 460 million gallons of Karachi's sewage every day.

Court takes notice

The reason why the KWSB and provincial and federal governments are in such a rush to complete the mega projects is because the Supreme Court took notice of the inordinate delays and initiated proceedings on the lack of potable water and poor sanitation conditions in Sindh.

The court taking cognisance of the situation has led to many sleepless nights for the officials.

The provincial government is trying to ensure that work on these projects is initiated.

Government officials have been working late hours and holding meetings to set their plans into motion as soon as possible. KWSB officials have also been directed to submit on-ground progress instead of merely submitting paper reports to the SC this time around.

 

Karachi to get five CETPs

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) has approved development of five Combined Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) in Karachi. The plants will have a sewage processing capacity of 94 million gallons per day and will be developed at a cost of Rs11.7 billion, of which the federal government will provide 33% of the funds while the remainder will be borne by provincial government. The project is expected to be completed by 2022.



The industrial sewage management CETPs will be established in five zones of Karachi, four of which will be completed in Phase I. CETP-I, with a processing capacity of 19 million gallons per day, will be constructed in SITE industrial zone, while CETP-II will be established in Trans-Lyari and will be able to process 27 million gallons a day. CETP-III will process 12 million gallons a day and will be established for industrial zones of North Karachi and Federal B Area, while CETP-IV will be developed for Landhi and Korangi Industrial areas with a 26 million gallon per day capacity. Phase II of the project will see the completion of a 10 million gallon treatment plant CETP-V for SITE industrial zone on the Super Highway.

Project director Zaheer Abbas confirmed that the CETPs have been approved by ECNEC. The cost of the project will be split between the federal and provincial governments in the agreed amounts of Rs3.8 billion and Rs7.9 billion respectively.

Work on the project will commence once administrative approval of the provincial government is given. A consultant firm will be hired for the development and finalisation of the project design, after which construction contracts will be awarded through tenders.

Confirming that the project deadline is 2022, the director said a memo instructing development and extension of localised sewerage lines up to the treatment plants has already been sent to the industries secretary.

Once connected to the treatment plants, waste from all five industrial zones will be cleared before being dumped into the sea, keeping the marine life safe from hazardous from toxic and hazardous pollutants.