Karachi's K-IV water project delayed further

Z Ali Land and electricity network to carry out project yet to be obtained

KARACHI: The K-IV water project, that was expected to be completed by 2018, has been delayed further by two to three years, according to documents available with The Express Tribune. The land for the K-IV project has still not been acquired nor has a network of electricity been installed, leading to the project delay.



The K-IV water project was expected to supply 26 million gallons of water annually in its first phase that was supposed to be completed in 2018 but the documents reveal that the project schedule was wrongly estimated and it needs two to three more years.

Initiated in 2007, according to the initial project report, it would spread across 120 canals and a network of pipelines. However, the project is being delayed since the last seven years due to the inefficiency of the Sindh government and the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB). The Sindh government only released 50% of the amount for the project and the other half is still pending.

After seven years of delay, the Sindh government again approved the project in 2014 along with a PC-1 and allocated government land worth Rs6 billion.

In July 2016, the KWSB assigned the construction work for phase one of K-IV to Frontier Works Organisation (FWO). It was the responsibility of the water board to provide land and electricity for the project but they failed and wasted three years from 2015 to 2018. They still don’t have land or an electricity network to carry out the project. Out of the land allocated for this project, 80% is government land but a part of it in Malir belongs to citizens.

The Sindh government allotted Rs5b for the private land which KWSB was supposed to acquire from private citizens. Another surprising revelation was made that the length of the project is 121 kilometres but only 35 kilometres of it has any sort of work on it.



Furthermore, the design and alignments of the project had to be changed again and again for unexplainable reasons.

The land beyond the super highway has still not been acquired. Private land owners have contacted the courts and have taken stay orders. Karachi needs 60m more gallons of water which makes this project crucial for the city.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 23^rd, 2018.