KARACHI: For the first time history the people of Tharparkar will get pure drinking water for free by the end of this year, while 450 more villages will get the same facility. Thus matter of shortage of water in 750 villages will be resolved once and for all. Shortage of water in Sindh especially in Thar was biggest challenges for all the governments in past, but thanks to visionary leadership of PPP this matter is getting resolved and it is expected that in 2015 it will be resolved on permanent basis and people of Thar will get purified water free of cost forever. Presently more than 400 Villages and Mithi city got this facility and work in other 450 villages and Islamkot City is in full swing and will be completed within this year. In the first phase, 300 villages surveyed and selected for installation of RO (Reserve Osmosis) plant by local administration that has completed and made operational and within record time of 4 months all 300 solar water schemes by Contractor Pak Oasis. People are very happy to have purified water for their families. Presently survey on remaining 435 sites has been completed by local administration and in March work on remaining sites will be started and it is expected that remaining 450 villages will get water within 4-5 months and the matter of shortage of water in 750 villages will be resolved once and for all. Thar has a population 2 million and 7 million livestock living in 6 talukas namely Diplo, Mithi, Islamkot, Chahcro, Dhali and Nagarparkar. 80% population living in 1,500 villages and 20% population living in 5 major cities need sufficient quantity of purified water for daily consumption. No surface water was available and people were compelled to consume underground brackish water as sweet water for them was a dream. In 2002 a water transmission line is established from Noukot to Mithi and then Mithi to Islamkot to transfer water for distribution in Mithi and Islamkot city. Later on another line was established to provide water to Diplo city and Chachro city. However no fruitful results were obtained as first of all no sufficient water was available and secondly the cost of transfer of water was very high and not affordable. Heavy pumping machinery and pipeline necessary for water transmission would cost Rs1 per gallon. Therefore twice in a month the water was being supplied to these areas and remaining 28 days people living in these cities were compelled to consume brackish water which was being supplied through TMA tube well, even for which Rs200 per month were charged from each and every house and people were very upset to pay this amount for brackish water supply. Contract was awarded in September 2014 to complete 750 projects in 12 months time. In first phase 315 villages were identified for installation of RO Plant by local administration and same were completed within 4 months by the contractor Pak Oasis and all Solar RO Plants are operational. This is first time that employment and training has given to local educated youth to operate these Solar RO Plants and local trained staff is working on 90% efficiency and running these plants with dedication and a proud sense of ownership. Due to non-availability of sweet water, tanker mafia got good business and they were supplying sweet water from the TMA storage tanks at a cost of Rs2,000 per tank. This cost could be affordable for rich people but majority of poor people were unable to buy water and forced to consume brackish water. Further this water transmission and distribution network established by expending billions of rupees for a small area and was not available for other areas as pumping cost and pipeline network for random located villages were not practical solution and also water was not sufficiently available for entire area of Thar. In 2014 , Former President Asif Ali Zardari visited Tharparkar and during his visit at Mithi Hospital and other places, people were only demanding RO Plants for their villages as RO is the only practical method to get water. Mr. Zardari advised CM to provide each and every village a solar RO Plant so that they could get free of cost purified water for their daily use. Immediately a project for 750 villages was initiated to resolve this matter permanently and tender awarded in September 2014 to successful bidder Pak Oasis having proven track record for installation and operation of these kind of schemes in deserts and is the only company working in Pakistan with technical and financial strength to undertake and complete these types of projects. It was also desired by the former president to provide employment to local educated youth so they are able to get trained to operate solar RO Plants and could get job in other countries so their living standards would improve and they would work with dedication and a sense of ownership. Presently more than 500 local educated youths are trained and employed on this project which is one of the world’s largest Solar Water Desert Scheme and it is truly a miracle for the people and real gift from PPP government to the local people in shape of availability of water and employment opportunity for more than 1,000 local young people. However it is observed that some groups are not happy with this innovative scheme and are creating obstacles to stop projects, as they believe that they cannot get aid from donors for prosperous Thar. But on the other hand people of Thar are happy as they are getting free of cost purified water for all people regardless of religion they belong to and their political affliation as water is not political. It is a human right. Now it is the duty of local notables to stop conspiracies against development in Tharparkar. The livestock is consuming fresh and sweet water and becoming healthy and the milk quality is improving which will ultimately give them opportunity to earn more. Further the most important thing is that they will feel no need to move livestock to other regions for water as there will be no shortage of water in Thar. It is expected that thousands of litres of good quality of milk will be available for Thar and each and every house will earn from dairy products and poverty will be eliminated forever and people will live with dignity and pride.
