Daily Times

KARACHI: The rehabilitation and expansion work on Treatment Plant (STP-I) Haroonabad, Treatment Plant (STP-II) Mehmoodabad, Treatment Plant (STP-III) Maripur and plan to build Combined Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP-IV) at Korangi Creek have been appended with S-III project. The process of lying down sewerage siphons under S-III project has so far been on slow pace and an elfin job of sewerage channels had been done within the embankment of Lyari River, officials of Karachi Water and Sewerage Board informed. In this context, the KWSB following approval of Planning Department Sindh government has sent a request to Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) to release of Rs 36 billion for the renewed PC-I of the project.

Meanwhile, on the directives of Waseem Akhtar, Mayor of Karachi, Hanif Mirchiwal Metropolitan Commissioner has written a letter to Board of Revenue Sindh to allocate fifty acres of land in order to accommodate the land encroachers of TP-II project after dislodging them from TP-II site.

The persons who had been leased land could be given alternative land and resettled, he stated.

Furthermore, Metropolitan Commissioner has already submitted a letter to Sindh Chief Secretary vide SECY/MC/KMC/2017/808, April 20, 2017 saying that no further progress could be possible at this stage to make TP-II functional. However, the matter needs to be resolved at the highest level to cancel the issued leases and removal of encroachment from TP-II site, he has suggested in the letter.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) had also directed KWSB, Board of Revenue Sindh and Metropolitan Commissioner in its order of March 16, 2017 to whether the area of TP-II, which has been determined or not, whether or not alternate land and or compensation to be paid to whether or not minimum area of land to make TP-II functional and mechanism to re-possess it has been determined. In reply, these entities praying SCP had submitted a report regarding TP-II in compliance of the order. In compliance of the order they informed SCP that fifty acres of land would be required for rehabilitation of effecters, since, no land is available with KMC for shifting of illegal encroachers, the BOR Sindh may kindly be directed to allot fifty acres of land as an alternate along with compensation so that the arrangement be made for shifting of these families, to ensure transparency, a high level committee may be constituted headed by senior member BOR or secretary Local Government along with appropriate members for processing of compensation cases on fast track. In regard of TP-I and TP-III matters, as these projects have been made part and parcel of S-III project, so there is a dire need of funding for make them functional and also for expansion job, Azam Khan, Chief Engineer (Electrical-Mechanical) KWSB has informed Chief Secretary Sindh in his letter. No any of these three sewerage treatment plants have been functional since last seven years and consequently, raw and completely untreated sewerage is being drained into the Arabian Sea, bordering one end of Karachi. The citizens of Karachi are punished still further by the dumping of raw sewerage into the Arabian Sea which contaminates the beach and the coast and poses yet another health hazard. The people are also deprived of the enjoyment of the city’s beaches for health and recreation. The closed Haroonabad TP-I, Site Karachi was constructed in 1964 with capacity of 20 MGD with 70 years life of its civil structure and 15 years for mechanical and electrical structure. Mehmoodabad TP was constructed in 1964 with treating capacity of 20 MGD and leased out by KWSB to City Government in year 2009.

Mauripur TP was built in year 1998 with capacity of 54 MGD and 60-65 designed life of its civil structure. Apart from these TPs, there is a plan to build CETP-IV at Korangi Creek with a capacity to treat 6 MGD effluent of tanneries. After rehabilitation of TP-I, TP-II and TP-III and building of TP-IV, total hydraulic capacities of these approximately would come to 950 MGD. Karachi is being supplied around 650 MGD of pipeline water and resultantly is producing more than 450 MGD sewage, which includes municipal, hospital and industrial liquid waste. Ecology of coastal areas is worsening day by day, because more than 500 MGD untreated sewerage both municipal and industrial is being released in sea. The entire sewage, which is mostly untreated, after going through different drainage channels fall in six nallahs/rivers viz. Lyari, Malir, Frere, Kalri, Railway and Nehr Khayyam (which have been mostly encroached upon with the connivance of the relevant departments and authorities ultimately end up in sea.