CM orders metering for use of subsoil water

Caretaker Sindh Chief Minister Justice (retd) Maqbool Baqar has directed the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KW&SC) to regularise subsoil bores in the industrial areas and install water meters.

He was presiding over a meeting of industrialists from Sindh Industrial and Trading Estates (SITE) Karachi. He said that the mixing of sweet water with subsoil water for industrial purposes was not allowed because the subsoil water has different charges while the charge of sweet water being provided to the industrialists by KW&SC has different rates and both rates are industrial.

He urged the industrialists to play their due role in ending water theft while the water board would ensure the uninterrupted supply of water to the industrial units. He said that his government was keen on developing a conducive atmosphere in the province for business and industrial activities for which concrete measures were being taken. "This would be possible when the industrialists would strengthen the government hands by extending their cooperation in carrying out inspections," he said and added the infrastructure of all the SITEs was being developed under the supervision of the concerned associations.

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The meeting was held at the CM House on Tuesday and was attended by Minister Industries & Revenue Younis Dhaga, Chief Secretary Dr Fakhre Alam, Chairman P&D Shakil Mangejo, Secretary to CM Raheem Shaikh, Home Secretary Iqbal Memon, SMBR Zahid Abbasi, Secretary Finance Kazim Jatoi, Secretary LG Manzoor Shaikh, Secretary Industries, MD Water Board, MD SSWMB Adl IG Karachi Khadim Rind and others. Industrials include Zubair Motiwala, Mian Zubair, Javed Balwani, Suleman Chawla, Kamran Arabi, Majeed Aziz and others. 

The industrialists presented their issues such as water shortage, fire incidents in shopping centres, dilapidated condition of Jam Sadiq Bridge, construction of the flyover at Islmia College and provision of water and natural gas to industrial units.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 13^th, 2023.