KARACHI: The Sindh government has requested the federal government to include a desalination plant for Karachi and a project related to the Rice Canal in Larkana in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) framework.
The provincial government believes that a desalination plant can provide a long term solution for the persisting issue of water shortage in the provincial capital. According to sources in the Sindh government, there is likelihood that the project will be included in the CPEC. Installation of a desalination plant will turn seawater into an alternative source of water for the province which will help the government deal with non-availability of water in the river system.
Lining of Rice Canal is another project that has been proposed by the Sindh government for inclusion in CPEC. The Rice Canal is an off-taking canal on the right bank of the Sukkur Barrage. The canal, which commands an area of nearly 5,200 acres, has been allowed to discharge 10,659 cusecs of water.