Untreated sewage continues to pollute sea

With the S-3 sewage treatment project facing delays, the country's coastal areas suffer irredeemable damage

Listen to article

KARACHI:

Inaugurated in 2007, the S-3 sewage treatment project was a joint collaboration of the federal and provincial governments, intending to protect the coastal areas of the country by treating the sewage water discharged into the ocean through four treatment plants, TP-I, TP-II, TP-III, and TP-IV.

After a delay of seven years, in 2014, construction work on the S-3 project finally began with the initial expectation of reaching completion within two years however, even after the passage of nearly a decade, only 7.6 per cent of the sewage water dumped into the ocean is treated via the project.

According to sources of the Express Tribune, although the installation of the pipeline in the Lyari river under Phase 1 has almost been completed, treatment plant one, TP-I, which will treat 100 million gallons per day (MGD) of sewage water, and treatment plant three, TP-III, which will treat 180 MGD, have not been made fully operational till date.

"This project had aimed to treat 460 MGD of domestic sewage. We had partially operationalized TP-III located at Mauripur in 2018 on the directions of the Supreme Court. With the rehabilitation of the old machinery and the installation of some new machines, 54 MGD of sewage was being treated. However, currently, only 35 MGD of sewage is being treated via the project," confirmed an official from the Karachi Water and Sewage Corporation (KWSC).

While TP-II was excluded from the project due to the construction of houses on the surrounding land, TP-I and TP-III faced consistent delays in completion due to the dispute between the federal and provincial governments over the increase in the cost of the S-3 project amidst the coronavirus pandemic, which halted construction work for another four years from 2019 to 2023.

Although initially the project was to be funded jointly by the federal and provincial governments, with both the parties equally dividing the initial cost of Rs7.9 billion, a dispute between the two led the federal government to back off, putting the entire burden on the provincial administration.

Project Director of S-3, Nizamuddin Sheikh confirmed that the federal government had released its stipulated share of the funds, Rs3.5 billion for the S-3 project. "However, the federal government has refused to provide further funds, and the Sindh government will bear all the upcoming expenses of the project. So far, Rs15 billion have been spent on the project, while Rs3 billion have been allocated in the budget for the current year," disclosed Sheikh.

Expanding on the matter, the official from KWSC revealed that the cost of the project was increased to Rs36 billion by the provincial government, which faced objection from the federal government, leading to delays in the construction work until 2023, when the new cost was finally approved. "Now, the federal government will pay its share as per the original plan while the Sindh government will be responsible for the additional funds," said the official.

Commenting on the progress and tentative completion of the S-3 project, Sheikh claimed that the cost of the project had been reduced after the termination of Phase 2 and TP-IV from the S-3 project. "Now the project will be completed within a budget of Rs29 billion. The work on the 33-kilometer pipeline from Surjani Town to Mauripur through the Lyari river via Phase I has been partially completed. Work is underway on TP-III as well. The entire project will be completed by June 2026," informed Sheikh.