The Sindh government with the assistance of World Bank has decided to launch a multibillion-rupee housing project for the flood-hit people in the province. A special unit would be established under the provincial chief secretary for this purpose.
The decision was taken on Friday in a meeting between Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and World Bank Country Director Najy Benhassine who attended the meeting through a video link from Islamabad.
The chief minister said that he has already deployed teams to clear water from the flooded towns and villages. "The dewatering process is in progress and hopefully within one and a half month it would be completed," he said and added that construction of houses would start after dewatering.
Shah said that winter season was approaching, therefore, housing arrangements for the flood-hit people have to be expedited. He requested the World Bank to finance the housing project.
After thorough deliberations, the chief minister and the World Bank country director decided to launch the project worth Rs110 billion.
A company would be established under the supervision of the provincial chief secretary for this purpose. The chief executive officer of the company would start the construction of houses with the support of public and private sectors. The survey is already in progress for this purpose. In discussion with the World Bank country director, the chief minister also said that the recent urban flooding has destroyed the roads infrastructure and sunk the drainage system in Karachi. Therefore, he added, he wanted to initiate a project worth Rs.13 billion to reconstruct the city's damaged roads.
The World Bank official committed Rs.6 billion for this project and the chief minister said he would arrange the remaining amount from other sources.
While talking about the repair and reconstruction of the sewerage lines, CM Shah said that the recent heavy rains have badly damaged them. He added that his government has worked out a scheme worth Rs.25 billion to overhaul the sewerage system along with their widening and redesigning. The World Bank agreed that the project would be financed through the KWSSIP project.
The chief minister and the World Bank country director agreed to discuss a proposed project for reconstruction of Jam Sadiq Bridge or for building a parallel bridge in their next meeting scheduled to be held next week.
CM Shah, while highlighting the plight of growers, said that the floods have caused them irreparable losses. He added that his government has prepared a scheme worth Rs30 billion to provide subsidies to growers on fertilizers and seeds. "We have to revive our agro-industry by giving it some incentives," he said and added that the growers were not in a financial position to purchase certified seeds, fertilizers, other inputs.
The World Bank agreed to provide $323 million, so that growers could reclaim their lands from the floods and sow the upcoming Rabi crop.
The chief minister was assisted by his cabinet members and concerned secretaries.
The World Bank team besides the country director included Program Leader Abedalrazaq Khalif, Senior Disaster Risk Management Specialist Elif Ayhan, Bilal Khalid, Kamran Akbar.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 1st, 2022.
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