Clean up project: Manchar lake contamination case to be resolved, says chief minister
Four water treatment plants are needed to resolve contamination issue.
Four water treatment plants are needed to resolve contamination issue. PHOT: FILE
KARACHI:
Sindh government has decided to raise the Manchar Lake contamination case in the upcoming Council of Common Interests meeting, which is likely to be held on February 10.
This was decided at a meeting held at CM House where chief minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah has directed irrigation secretary Babar Afendi to develop a strategy to solve the problem. In the meeting, Afendi said that, under the directives of the apex court, the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) was supposed to install four water treatment plants each with capacity to treat 50 cusecs of contaminated water coming from the MNV drain before releasing it into Manchar Lake but Wapda has only begun work on only one treatment plant so far. The cost of each plant is Rs3.7 billion.
Utilisation of funds
Sindh government claims to have spent around Rs40 billion on development schemes in the last eight years. A total development outlay of Rs185 billion was earmarked in the current financing year out of which Rs70 billion has been released and more than Rs40 billion have been utilised in other schemes till December.
“The work on the development schemes is in progress,” said additional chief secretary for finance Arif Ahmed Khan. “The utilisation of the development funds is about 60% so far.”
The meeting, which was attended by officials of finance, irrigation and planning departments, also examined and evaluated the performance of the irrigation department. The irrigation secretary stated that as many as 219 different development schemes, including 112 older ongoing and 107 new schemes, were under execution by his department at a total cost of Rs57.6 billion.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 25th, 2014.
Sindh government has decided to raise the Manchar Lake contamination case in the upcoming Council of Common Interests meeting, which is likely to be held on February 10.
This was decided at a meeting held at CM House where chief minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah has directed irrigation secretary Babar Afendi to develop a strategy to solve the problem. In the meeting, Afendi said that, under the directives of the apex court, the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) was supposed to install four water treatment plants each with capacity to treat 50 cusecs of contaminated water coming from the MNV drain before releasing it into Manchar Lake but Wapda has only begun work on only one treatment plant so far. The cost of each plant is Rs3.7 billion.
Utilisation of funds
Sindh government claims to have spent around Rs40 billion on development schemes in the last eight years. A total development outlay of Rs185 billion was earmarked in the current financing year out of which Rs70 billion has been released and more than Rs40 billion have been utilised in other schemes till December.
“The work on the development schemes is in progress,” said additional chief secretary for finance Arif Ahmed Khan. “The utilisation of the development funds is about 60% so far.”
The meeting, which was attended by officials of finance, irrigation and planning departments, also examined and evaluated the performance of the irrigation department. The irrigation secretary stated that as many as 219 different development schemes, including 112 older ongoing and 107 new schemes, were under execution by his department at a total cost of Rs57.6 billion.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 25th, 2014.