A firm has three months to identify problems in the water supply project
A firm has three months to identify problems in the water supply project
A hydrant in Ahsanabad in Karachi. The water arrives at homes in water tankers instead of the city’s pipelines. Photo: Mahim Maher/SAMAA Digital
The Sindh government has decided to review the design of the K-IV project, a major but delayed project aimed to fulfill Karachi’s water requirements.
The provincial government has also decided to get a third party review of the project. It issued a notification about this on Thursday.
A firm has been tasked with identifying issues in the project in three months.
Related: Karachi dangerously close to a water crisis: Indian scientists
The K-IV, a Rs270 million project, is already 12 years behind schedule. The provincial government had claimed that the first phase of the project would be completed by June 2018.
The city will get 650 million gallons of water per day after the project is completed. Karachi’s population is rising every year and it is estimated that the water requirements rise by 120 million gallons per day every two years.
The city’s current water demand is around 600MGD — of which 500MGD is taken from the Indus River and the remaining 100MGD from the Hub Dam.
Related: Water supply to several areas in Karachi suspended due to cleaning work at Dhabeji Pumping Station
The K-IV project is supposed to be completed in three phases. Karachi will get 260MGD after the first phase is completed and another 260MGD in the second phase. The remaining 130MGD will be supplied to the city after the third phase is completed.