The federal government assured the Sindh government on Thursday of its full cooperation in addressing the province's water-related issues, including K-IV Phase-1, improvements in the Hub Canal water share, the Right Bank Outfall Drain (RBOD), and water distribution under the 1991 Water Accord.
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah held a meeting with Federal Water Resources Minister Moin Wattoo at the Chief Minister House to discuss key water projects. The issue of water shortage for Karachi metropolis figured prominently in the meeting.
The meeting was attended by Provincial Planning Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, Local Government Minister Saeed Ghani, Irrigation Minister Jam Khan Shoro, Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) Chairman Naveed Asghar Chaudhry, Sindh Chief Secretary Rahim Sheikh and senior officers.
The meeting took place after a visit to the K-IV project by Wattoo, along with provincial Planning Minister Nasir Shah. The meeting was informed that with 63% construction work finished, the project's Phase I would be completed next year.
The water requirement of Karachi, at present, is 1,300 million gallons per day (MGD). However, the city receives half of its needs – 650 MGD. To meet the shortage, the Sindh government planned K-IV project to supply 650 MGD from Keenjhar Lake to the city.
WAPDA is working on Phase-1 of the project, following its approval from the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) in January 2022 at a cost of Rs126.404 billion. Despite administrative approval, the chief minister stated that the project faced challenges that needed federal intervention.
Shah pointed out that the project required Rs39.964 billion funding during the current fiscal year, 2025-26, but the federal government had allocated Rs3.209 billion only. It could cause delays, risking cost escalation and contractor claims.
Wattoo told the chief minister that he would brief Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif regarding the project to secure additional funds. He acknowledged that Sindh had mostly resolved the Right of Way (ROW) issues but two major obstacles still remained – land acquisition in Thatta and a court case.
The chief minister assured that the land for the pumping station in Thatta would be handed over soon. He also assured the federal government of the release of Rs8.5 billion as part of the fourth quarterly instalment in Sindh's share of funding in the project.
Chief Minister Shah said that Sindh had repaired the old Hub Canal and built a new 100 MGD-capacity channel to improve water supply to Karachi. Both leaders agreed to conduct a technical survey to assess water availability before submitting recommendations to the Council of Common Interests (CCI).
Inter-provincial water distribution
The chief minister urged the federal minister to facilitate a direct meeting between Sindh and Punjab's irrigation departments to resolve the water-sharing disputes. He emphasised that water distribution must be done under the 1991 Water Accord.
Chief Minister Shah recalled that the CCI had tasked the then attorney general for Pakistan with reviewing the accord during the tenure of former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. Wattoo agreed to hold separate meetings with representatives from both provinces.
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