Ready to begin: NOC issued for K-IV project

SEPA has determined project will not cause harm to environment

KARACHI: The Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) has been issued a no-objection certificate (NOC) by the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA), the province's environmental watchdog, for the long awaited K-IV project.

A meeting of experts to discuss the K-IV's environmental impact assessment, held at the Regent Plaza hotel on Thursday, marked the beginning of the project. Work on the K-IV will commence in the start of 2016 and will be completed by 2019, said Saleem Siddiqui, project director of the K-IV.

"This is an exceptional project and the best of all is that it has been fully verified by [the relevant] environmental departments, for which I want to thank the Sindh Chief Minister and all of the experts, as  without them it would not have been possible to understand the environmental perspectives of the project," said Siddiqui.

Dr Naeem Mughal, SEPA director-general, said the best thing about this project is that it has been done while keeping in mind the environment, as, on scrutiny, they found that the project posed no danger to the environment.

The meeting hosted a healthy discussion about Sindh's water problems, along with the K-IV environmental impact assessment.

Dr M Mansha, general manager of the environmental monitoring and modeling division of the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission, suggested that satellites can help with the water sampling of different lakes and canals. He added that satellites can determine both the depth and quality of water.

Many countries have adopted this method and we should also consider it as a tool to identify Pakistan's clean water reserves, he added.

Kaneez Fatima, a sociologist from the University of Karachi, while speaking to The Express Tribune, said that the concerns she has regarding the project are that KWSB should take all the stakeholders on board, especially the National Highway Authority, in order to avoid further delays and a budget and plan should be proposed for the maintenance and operation of the project.

The distribution of water should be done on an equitable basis and should be given initially to the areas where the water shortage has been the worst, according to her. Fatima also claimed that the people of Karachi are currently drinking contaminated water and expressed her hope that the K-IV project water would not be contaminated.

On July 28 KWSB held a public meeting regarding the K-IV project's environmental impact assessment report, explaining the salient features of the project and declaring it environment friendly.

Siddiqui said that the environment is the most important element of the K-IV, which is a positive addition to the water supply system of Karachi. "We will make sure that this project is environmentally friendly as we understand the residents of Karachi's dire need for water and have successfully solved the issues related to the project," he claimed. Siddiqui added that the project's funding has been divided between the Sindh and federal government and the World Bank has also shown interest in funding the project, for which their team is arriving in Karachi soon.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 14^th, 2015.