‘Clean water project’ worth Rs25b still in doldrums

The scheme was announced by the federal government in 2005

KARACHI: The federal government had announced a 'clean drinking water project for all', under which water purification plants were to be established in all tehsils and union councils across the country. Ten years on, the over Rs25 billion project is still in doldrums.

According to officials, the project was envisaged in 2005 by the federal ministry of special initiatives, given the scarcity of potable water across the country. The project aimed to provide potable water to citizens by setting up reverse osmosis and other water purification plants, especially in those areas where potable water had become a rare commodity.

However, the project could not be realised as most of the companies that were given contracts simply wanted to bungle the funds, instead of taking up the project in its true spirit, lamented an official. "The majority of the companies had no previous experience in installing drinking water projects, neither did they have skilled staff. Besides, the contracts were even given to those companies that were not even registered with the Pakistan Engineering Council," said the official, adding that some RO plants were set up by one of the companies in Keamari and Mauripur, Karachi, to convert brackish water into sweet water, but these plants became non-functional soon after their installation.



According to official documents, 6,500 purification plants were to be established by different companies.  "GP and BIDC had to establish 1,005 plants and Ever Green was given a contract to set up 305 water plants worth Rs7 billion in different areas of Sindh. The funds were released to these companies but all in vain," said the official.

Similarly, other companies had to set up 4,000 water plants worth Rs21 billion in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Balochistan. These companies include Tauseef Enterprises, KSB Pumps, Amin Brothers, Rain Drop and Sosafe.

"Funds were released to these companies in advance but they have hardly done five per cent of the work," said an official, adding that no agency has started investigating the mega scandal in which the then federal government bureaucrats and politicians are involved.

"Tenders were awarded to these companies at the highest price.  At that time, the actual price of an RO plant was Rs4.5 million, but these companies were awarded tenders for each plant at Rs7.7 million giving Rs3.2 million more than the actual price," the official revelaed, adding that a huge amount was allocated for operations and maintenance of these projects.  "Though the majority of the RO plants were not established, the officials utilised millions of rupees of the budget in this connection," said sources.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 29^th, 2015.