Centre sanctions Rs8bn for Karachi’s water project

KARACHI: In pursuance of the demand of Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, the federal government sanctioned Rs8 billion for additional financial support for ‘water requirement project of Karachi’ through re-appropriation of funds of two slow-moving projects of Karachi and Hyderabad’s infrastructure improvement.

As per the official correspondence available with The News, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on January 9, 2025 formally requested Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif for additional financial support through re-appropriation to address the funding gap for the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) project ‘Water requirement for K-IV project, improvement of Kalri Baghar Feeder and Keenjhar Lake 2024-25’.

The Sindh CM demanded the federal government release Rs10 billion in the current financial year by reallocating Rs6 billion from slow-moving projects of ‘Karachi Urban Infrastructure Development Package,’ and re-appropriating Rs2 billion from ‘Hyderabad Urban Infrastructure Development Package’ and remaining funds be provided in the financial year 2025-2026 to ensure timely completion of the said project.

Following the demand, the federal government sanctioned the amount by re-appropriating funds of Rs6 billion from Karachi Urban Infrastructure Development Package and Rs2 billion from Hyderabad Urban Infrastructure Development Package for water requirement project of Karachi.

The Sindh CM, in his letter, informed the prime minister that the project involves lining of 38 miles of the ‘Upper Kalri Baghar Feeder’ to save approximately 510 cusecs of water, thereby supplying additional drinking water to Karachi through the K-IV Project. This scheme has a total cost of Rs39.942 billion on a 50:50 cost-sharing basis (fifty percent by the Sindh government and fifty percent by the federal government), with only Rs1 billion allocated this year by the federal government.

The CM further added that the project was approved by the Executive Committee of the National Council (Ecnec) on July 19, 2022, the authorisation of the project was issued in July 2023, but only Rs1 billion was released in 2023-24 against the allocation of Rs3 billion, and in the current fiscal year, Rs150 million were released in the first quarter on October 3, 2024.

He was of the view that the Kalri Baghar Feeder is essential for irrigation and maintaining a reliable water supply for Karachi. This project, tied to the K-IV project managed by the Wapda, has reached 50 percent completion. The Sindh government aims to achieve 70 percent completion by June 2025, in line with K-IV progress.

Due to the critical nature of the canal work, it must be done during the closure period (December to January). To meet this deadline, 50 percent of the project funds need to be arranged immediately and the remaining are to be ensured in the FY 2025-2026. To achieve this target, the Sindh government will allocate additional Rs7,000 million, bringing the total to Rs10,000 million for the current fiscal year.