MITHI, THARPARKAR: Finally, the Sindh Coal Authority on Wednesday agreed to extend the contract with Pak Oasis till March 30, so that the company may run 84 RO plants, which are installed in various areas of Thar including Asia’s biggest in the Misri Shah Area of Mithi town. The Pak Oasis Company announced last Friday that it will shut down 84 reverse osmosis plants from March 15 that it had been running in Thar after the Sindh Coal Authority (SCA) failed to renew its contract signed between them in 2005. The plants’ closure would deprive 1.6 million of the population of water-starved Thar of safe drinking water. The concerned Sindh Coal Authority in a letter requested the officials of Pak Oasis not to shut the plants till March 30 when they would invite the tenders for the sixth time to hand over the plants in Thar. The officials at Pak Oasis said that they, after the fresh requests from the authorities concerned, had agreed to run the plants till the fresh tenders were invited. It may be noted that earlier the firm had announced to shut the plants on March 15 after the SCA failed to revise the contract, which had expired in June 2016. The Secretary Energy Government of Sindh, Agha Wasif Abbas talking to this reporter confirmed that the Sindh government on Wednesday decided to extend the contract to the firm up to March 30. “We are working on the plans to invite fresh tenders for the sixth time so that plants installed in the desert can properly be maintained and provide drinking water to Tharis” added Wasif. He informed that the Sindh Coal Authority despite the lack of the interest from companies engaged in such ventures would not shut the plants adding that plants would either be handed over to the same firm or any other company.