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CM orders officials to ensure all RO plants in Sindh are in working order

By PPI
July 25, 2017

Karachi: Expressing concern over reports of non-operational Reverse Osmosis (RO) plants in the province, the Sindh chief minister has urged officials to employ a scientific and technical approach to redress the issue at the earliest.

CM Murad Ali Shah issued the directives during a meeting held on Monday to review progress on installation of RO plants in Sindh and their conversion to solar energy.

“The installation of RO plants in water-starved areas of Sindh, particularly Thar, was a truly revolutionary plan of this government and its successful execution could finally ensure proper supply of drinking water to the people of this province,” said the CM. 

“However, we have received reports that some of the RO plants have failed to function normally and some others have capacity problems. These issues can prove disastrous for our plan and must be resolved with a scientific approach.”

Over the course of the meeting, Secretary Special Initiative Department Aijaz Ali Khan told the participants that 500 RO plants were installed between 2012 to 2015 as part of Phase I at a total cost of Rs2.44 billion.  

Out of the 500 plants, he said, 393 were operational and providing water to around 1.63 million people. Of the 500, 68 RO plants had been converted to solar power while work was in progress on the others. 

In Phase II, the official continued, a total of 750 RO plants were being installed at a cost of Rs4 billion, 379 of which had been made functional. Work was underway to convert 135 of the plants to solar power, as per the official. 

In the third phase, the installation of 750 RO plants started in 2014 for Rs5.49 billion was scheduled to be completed in 2018. Of these, 525 plants have been installed so far and 430 are functional. Work was in progress to convert 27 of the plants to solar power. 

The meeting participants were told that in Phase I and Phase II a total of 1,050 RO plants were being converted to solar energy and, so far, work had been completed on 600 units. 

Work remains in progress on converting the Manora RO Desalination Plant launched for Rs427 million to solar energy. The meeting attendees were informed that in Phase III, 750 plants were being installed in Tharparkar including 145 units in Mithi, 136 in Islamkot, 131 at Chhachro, 129 in Dahli, 71 at Diplo and 95 at Nagarparkar. 

Out of 707 RO plants, 550 have been installed and 125 of them are functional in Mithi, 108 in Islamkot, 68 at Chhachro, 50 at Dahali, 42 in Diplo and 37 in Nangarparkar. 

On this, the chief minister said the quoted statistics prove that 277 RO plants are non-functional in Tharparkar and asked the secretary to submit a detailed report.

Irrigation Secretary Syed Jamal Shah told the meeting participants that his department had installed 23 RO plants in 23 villages of Jamshoro and Dadu districts at a cost of Rs234.574 million and all of the units were functioning properly. All the plants, he said, were working on solar power. 

Public Health Engineering Rural Development Department Secretary    Tamizuddin Khero told the meeting participants that his department had installed 49 RO plants in nine different districts, 41 of which were functional. The eight other plants, he conceded, were non-functional due to power supply issues. 

He said three units at Rohri, three units at Pano Aqil and one at Tando Allahayar were not functioning because SEPCO was yet to provide power connections. The secretary said the RO plant at Jati was non-functional due to major variations in groundwater chemistry. On this, the chief minister directed him to take all necessary measures to make the units functional and submit a report.