750 RO plants to be set up in Thar by June

Zardari opens Asia’s largest RO plant.

HYDERABAD/ MITHI:

Promising to supply clean drinking water to each village in the desert region of Tharparkar, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari inaugurated what is being billed as Pakistan’s largest reverse osmosis (RO) plant in Mithi on Wednesday.

The hybrid solar desalination plant, set up at a cost of Rs934 million in the Misri Shah area of Mithi, will process up to two million gallons of water a day. The filtered water will be supplied to the Mithi and Islamkot tehsils, and the close to 100 villages located around them.

“The entire Tharparkar region will get potable water before the PPP’s tenure in Sindh government is over,” Zardari said at the inauguration ceremony. He was accompanied by his daughter Bakhtawar.

“PPP might be criticised by some on various aspects, but our manifesto is to serve the people. We remain strong in both Sindh and the rest of Pakistan,” he said.

The Sindh government plans to set up as many as 750 RO plants across Tharparkar at a total cost of Rs5 billion. According to the spokesperson of Pak Oasis – the company building these plants – around 150 of them have been made functional. The remaining will become functional before June this year, he said.



The Misri Shah plant has been designed to function on solar energy during power outages to ensure water is filtered 24 hours a day.

“We plan to introduce solar-powered tube wells and water pumps in Sindh,” Zardari said at the ceremony.

Acknowledging the issues confronting minorities in the province, he asked Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah to give jobs to the Meghwadh, Kohli and Bheel people of the province through the special minority quota.

Zardari also said land in Tharparkar was being surveyed for setting up industries. He added that people of the region will be provided easy loans through Sindh Bank to help them practise cattle farming.

CM Shah said he will make sure all 750 RO plants are functional before the end of June.

Zardari also held a brief meeting with the local leaders at Darbar Hall in Mithi. The media was denied access to both the events.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 8^th, 2015.