K-IV water project delayed yet again

First phase completion extended till Dec, 2019, contrary to claims by ministers and project director

KARACHI: Karachi's mega water project, K-IV, has been hit by delays. There is hardly any progress on the project even after a lapse of a year-and-a-half and a drastic surge in cost, which has risen to Rs51.9 billion from its original estimate of Rs25 billion.

The provincial government had assured citizens of water-scarce Karachi that the first of the three phases of the K-IV project would be completed by June, 2018. The second and third phases of the project would have water capacities of 260 millions of gallons per day (MGD) and 160MGD.



The work for phase one commenced on June 10, 2015, following an inauguration by former Sindh chief minister, Qaim Ali Shah. The groundbreaking ceremony of the project was held in the presence of incumbent Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and former governor, Dr Ishratul Ibad.

The federal and Sindh governments had agreed to contribute 50% funds each for the project. While the government and project director had been assuring completion of the project by June this year, a progress report about phase I, 260MGD, of K-IV puts the completion date at December next year. However, the report doesn't explain the reasons for the delay in the completion of phase I.

For the past couple of years, the water crisis in the city has taken an ugly turn. Hence, further delay in the project will prove to be troublesome for the citizens.



According to the progress report, the completion date for phase I has been extended till the end of next year, contrary to the claims by ministers and the project director about completion in June this year.

As per the report submitted by the project director on December 26, 2017, physical completion of phase one is only 30%, while the financial progress stands at 27%.



While the delay in the project will add to the miseries of the citizens, the Pakistan Peoples Party itself will face a setback in its vote bank in the upcoming elections over the non-completion of an important project because several political parties will criticise the Sindh government over the issue.