Another spanner in the works of TP-III

As the city of 16m toils with urban planning, the project meant to treat up to 77MGD of sewage meets more delays

KARACHI: Inaugurated in July 2018 by former Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, the Sewerage Treatment Plant (TP-III) Mauripur has once again been deferred owing to various reasons. According to sources, the installation of the plant remains on pause despite the arrival of the required machinery at the plant. Meanwhile, the construction of the previous TL-I has been treading water due to the soaring dollar prices and the subsequent inability to import machinery.

Despite the federal government’s approval of the revised PC-I for the Greater Karachi Sewage Plan (S-III), construction work on the Phase-II Malir River has remained stagnant, while the provincial government has decided to hand over Phase-II to the World Bank.

The S-III project was initiated in 2013 and intended to reach completion within two years. However, the cost of the project has remained a bone of contention between the federal and provincial governments for five years.

As per the Supreme Court’s directives, Karachi Water and Sewage Board (KWSB) was assigned the charge of repairing the old machinery at the TP-III by the year 2018. Upon repair of old machinery and installation of the new machines, about 77 million gallons per day (MGD) sewerage waste is being treated and disposed into the open sea. However, the old machinery is reportedly prone to malfunctioning and has been repeatedly disrupting operations at the treatment plant.

“Once operational, the S-III project can effectively treat up to 460 million gallons of domestic sewage,” informed a source at the water board. The cost of the project was initially estimated to be around Rs 7.9 billion, but later swelled to a whopping Rs 36 billion due to various reasons.

Where the project is to be completed by December 2020 as per the directives of the Supreme Court, the source reveals that considering the current situation the project is more than likely to be delayed for several years. “In 2008, all three treatment plants - TP-I, TP-II, TP-III - had become dysfunctional; causing 460 million gallons of untreated daily sewerage to be dumped into the open sea. Although TP-III was partially restored in 2018 and treated over 77 MGD, the old machinery often gives up resulting in untreated sewerage flowing into the sea.”

According to Project Director Hanif Baloch, the S-III project has two phases. Phase I represents the Lyari Basin, which involves working on 33.32 kilometres of pipeline and conduit installations. The TP-I system covers the site area of Haroonabad, while TP-II will be linked to Mauripur Road. Under the plan, TP-I will process 100 MGD of waste while TP-III will have the capacity of 180 MGD, which is estimated to cost Rs 21.31 billion.

Meanwhile, the Phase-II Malir river basin will have a sewerage trunk of 22.74 kilometres and the system will be connected to the TP-IV at Korangi, which itself has a sewerage treatment capacity of 180 MGD. This phase will cost Rs 14.79 billion.

The project director revealed that the KWSB and Sindh Government have jointly decided to hand over the charge of Phase II and the construction of the Malir basin and TPIV to the World Bank. “The World Bank will now conduct its own environmental studies and other surveys which is likely to further delay the project but Phase I of S-III comprising of the Lyari river basin, TP- I and TP-III will be completed in December 2021,” the director claimed.

Baloch also denied the claims about faulty machinery at TP-III being the cause of operational disruptions. He maintained that all machinery at the treatment plant has been functioning properly and treating sewerage waste at optimal capacity before dumping it into the sea.

“Operations at TP-III are being run by a private company; the water board has yet not taken charge of the system and the plant is making use of both, old and new machineries. The private company has to fix a few minor technical glitches before the water board takes over the system. However, other components of the S-III project have run into delays and the water board has directed the private company to import the required machinery at the cost previously agreed upon in the contract and to also ensure immediate installation of the imported machinery.”

The development work for laying transmission lines in the Lyari River has been divided into two phases. Phase I involves the transmission line from Yasinabad to Mauripur, which has already been laid in the river while Phase II includes the installation of the transmission line going from Yasinabad to Surjani Town, which is still underway. “Although work on the second phase started soon after the approval of the revised PC-I, development work was halted for three months due to the monsoon rains,” informed Baloch.

“Development work for the S-III project has been awarded to various contractors. The reconstruction of the treatment plants TP-I and TP-III has been awarded to the same company, while the contract for installation of transmission lines in the Lyari River has been awarded to different companies,” told a KWSB official on conditions of anonymity.

According to the water board official, the fault is in rebuilding TP-I and TP-III, which requires new machinery to be installed if the treatment plant is to be made operational. Both these contracts, the official explains, have been awarded to the same private company which lacks experienced staff. “The company had imported machinery a year ago but the lack of competent staff and other factors has delayed their installation. On the other hand, the machinery for TP-I is yet to be imported and the company has been citing increasing dollar rates as a factor. However, it must be noted that the company did not have the shipment when dollar rates were low.”

The official said that S-III has been facing continuous delays and it is expected to experience further delays. Although the federal government approved the revised PC-I last year, the actual problem lies in the delivery of funds to the Sindh government. The provincial government has repeatedly complained about the federal government not paying Sindh’s share as per the NFC award, which has been a factor behind Sindh government handing over the charge of the project to the World Bank.

According to the official, the real issue lies with the company’s incapability to complete the project and its failure to comply with the terms and conditions of the contract. “It is reported that a key figure within the Sindh Government has been backing the company, which is why authorities have been reluctant to act against the contact violations by the company,” the source informed The Express Tribune.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 27^th, 2020.