Report details improvement in water supply, drainage, solid waste collection brought about by commission’s intervention.
PHOTO: FILE
The 49-page report pointed out an array of initiatives in improvement of the water supply, drainage, solid waste collection and related areas taken due to its intervention. "While the commission is drawing close to the end of its tenure [on January 15,2019] the efforts have been multiplied to make the different projects take shape."
Until the fourth interim report, the commission had conducted 68 hearings. Another 28 hearings were further conducted during the span of the fifth report. The commission's head, Justice (retd) Amir Hani Muslim, paid 29 visits to different parts of Sindh during the period in question besides holding meetings with bureaucrats, civil society representatives and experts.
Solid Waste
The commission observed an improvement in the performance of the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board (SSWMB). In February, 2018, the board transported 177,312 tons of garbage to the landfill sites. The quantum increased to 218,786 tons in October. In the nine months of 2018, a total of 2,223,461 tons were collected and disposed.
The board is at present operating in four districts of Karachi division. The private contractor will place 15,000 waste bins across Karachi's four districts by December 15. It has installed 80 biometric machines to record attendance of the staff in the South and East districts.
Some of the SSWMB's other near-term initiatives include setting up six garbage transportation stations, development of two landfill sites, preparing a plan for generating electricity through waste and activating the board in other parts of Sindh.
Water Hydrants
The report acknowledged that the regulation of water hydrants in Karachi has streamlined after the enactment of regulatory laws by the Sindh Assembly on its orders. Electronic meters have been installed at all hydrants, the water delivery charges are painted over the tankers and also advertised in print media and Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) has introduced an online booking service which operates 24/7.
The water flow meters have been installed at 37 bulk pumping stations while the tender is being floated for another 421 meters. The water testing laboratories have been made functional at six filtration plants in Karachi and 35 chlorination plants have also been activated.
The commission has been overseeing the completion of sewerage treatment plant I in Karachi which will treat 51MGD. Its capacity will be doubled to 100MGD by July, 2019, on the commission's order. The commission also expedited work on the 77MGD capacity sewerage treatment plant III (STP III) which was inaugurated by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar. The work on 180MGD STP IV at Korangi is scheduled to be completed by December 2020. Justice (R) Muslim conceived 100MGD STP V for which land is being acquired from Karachi Port Trust and the revenue department. Defence Housing Authority (DHA) agreed to construct an STP along the sea view beach, link the sewage channelled towards the beach to DHA Phase VIII's treatment plant and stop disposal of sewage in sea.
SEPA and Industries
Among 2,397 industrial units in the Karachi SITE area, 654 required installation of in-house treatment systems and 1,743 were meant to install septic tanks, the report stated. The commission has granted four months time for compliance to all these units.
Sindh Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is conducting a survey of 600 industries in Korangi industrial zone and 102 units in Landhi zone to assess how many of them require treatment plants and tanks. The report will be submitted to the commission on December 15. SEPA has also initiated a survey in the Export Processing Zone where there are 253 units.
A similar survey is under way for 292 industries in Federal B Area and North Karachi industrial zones.
At Port Qasim industrial zone, 38 units have installed the tanks while 31 others have been directed to build the treatment plants. Justice (R) Muslim has ordered 36 rice mills, 25 cotton ginning factories and two cement factories to install air emission control systems. The commission got 218 battery recycling units demolished and 16 brick kilns have been stopped from operating because they burn tyres, shoes and plastic as fuel.
"Referral of cases [of environmental violations] to the judicial forums was not in practice of SEPA," Justice (R) Muslim observed in the report, pointing out that he directed the agency to begin taking these cases to the courts besides the environment tribunal. So far, 152 cases have been filed in the tribunals and 384 before the judicial magistrates. The latter have convicted 149 violators, collecting Rs19.5m in fines.
Commercialisation
The commission cited cancellation of conversion of plots in the industrial areas for commercial use, stopping on-going construction work on such plots and a ban on future commercialisation as some of its other achievements.
Effluent treatment
A team of engineers from NED University evaluated the newly built, yet defective, combined effluent treatment plants (CEPT) at Kotri SITE area in Jamshoro district. A PC-I costing Rs92.986m has been prepared for its rehabilitation on the commission's directive. The industrial waste from Nooriabad SITE travelled to Keenjhar Lake from where water is supplied to Karachi. A CEPT at the cost of Rs443m will be built in Nooriabad within a year.
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Separately, five CEPTs will be constructed in as many industrial zones in Karachi at a cost of Rs11.8b which will be shared - 33% by the centre and 67% by Sindh government.
Waterways contamination
On the commission's orders, Sindh Irrigation Department conducted a study identifying 700 points from where municipal and industrial wastewater is released in the waterways. The study was handed over to Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) which prepared a PC-I of Rs4.33b to undertake the task of treating the wastewater at 181 locations in the province in the first phase. The remaining points will be taken up in second phase of the project.
RO plants
There are 2,207 reverse osmosis (RO) plants in Sindh among which the commission has inspected 1,800 plants. Among those 1,800, some 1,166 have been made functional and the rehabilitation on the remaining will be completed by end of December. A total of 634 RO plants are non-functional in the province. The drought hit Tharparkar district has the highest number of RO plants, 589, in the province. Among them 454 are working and 128 are out of order.
PHED
The commission observed a shortage of staff in PHED following which 211 sub-engineers and 59 assistant engineers were recruited. Some 547 water supply and drainage schemes of PHED are being rehabilitated under phase I while another 276 will undergo rehabilitation in phase II whose PC-I will be submitted to Sindh government by February, 2019.
In compliance with the commission's order for establishment of water testing laboratories in 17 districts of Sindh, eight laboratories have been set up so far and the summary for the remaining has been sent to Sindh chief minister.
Hyderabad
After the commission's intervention, three out of five filtration plants in Hyderabad have been rehabilitated. These include a new 30MGD filtration plant and two 8MGD plants at Hala Naka and Paretabad, respectively. "When the commission took over, all the plants were found non-functional," the report stated. The rehabilitation of the fourth plant, old Jamshoro road filtration plant, is scheduled to be completed by January, 2019. A new plant of 6 MGD capacity is being constructed in Hussainabad area. It will be completed by December 2019.
Under the commission's direction, a scheme worth Rs684.3m for rehabilitation of 400MGD pre-settlement lagoons in Hyderabad has been approved. Another scheme of Rs399.74m has also been approved for revival of water distribution network in the city. "There are areas where filtered water doesn't reach the consumers at the tap." The old and broken distribution network surfaced as the cause of the problem. For the rehab of sewerage system in Hyderabad a Rs414.13m project has been approved and will be commenced in the coming months.
The provincial government has been handed over the PC-I for construction and expansion of the eastern and southern treatment plants at the cost of Rs5.2b. Both of the plants were found non-functional. Another two schemes for rehab of northern and Qasimabad treatments plants have been approved. The work on these Rs300m projects will be initiated after the tendering process.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 13th, 2018.
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