MQM presents five-point formula to Qaim to resolve water crisis

Karachi
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement on Monday presented a five-point formula to the Sindh chief minister Qaim Ali Shah to resolve the persisting water shortage in the city.
For the past month, the party has been engaged in organising protests and meetings with officials in lieu of the perennial water crisis in Sindh and Karachi.
A delegation of the party, led by opposition leader in Sindh Assembly, Khwaja Izhar-ul-Hassan, met the chief minister and members of his cabinet at the CM House and presented a five-point formula to resolve the water crisis in Karachi.
Members of the delegation included Syed Sardar Ahmed, Mohammad Hussain, MNA Kunwar Naveed Jameel and Khalid Ahmed while the chief minister was assisted by members of the provincial cabinet, Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, Dr Sikandar Mandhro, Syed Murad Ali Shah and Sharjeel Inam Memon.
The five points submitted by the MQM delegation are: closure of illegal hydrants and crackdown on illegal connections, promulgation on an ordinance to declare water theft as a non-bailable offence and registration of FIRs against culprits, immediate implementation on the 65MGD (million gallons per day) its completion within a year, immediate completion of the K-IV water project and allocation of more than Rs5 billion for it in the upcoming budget. Lastly, it also demanded allocation of at least Rs 10 billion for revamping and rehabilitation of existing infrastructure of KWSB in Karachi, they said.
The Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah said that the Pakistan People’s Party government and its leadership has always owned Karachi and it was evident in the Rs160 million grant by his office for supplying free water tankers to the areas worst-effected by shortage in Karachi.
Welcoming the delegation of the former coalition partner, the chief minister said MQM chief Altaf Hussain too had telephoned him the previous night and given him some suggestions for resolving public grievances.
He appreciated that the MQM was offering to strengthen the hands of his government o solve the persisting water shortage. The minister for local government and information, Sharjeel Inam Memon, responded that the help of Sindh Police and Rangers had been sought to bulldoze more than 120 illegal hydrants besides severing a large number of illegal connections.
“We have already intensified the operation against illegal hydrants and water connections. Now I have sent scanners for repair to enable us to detect illegal underground water connections. I will leave a drive in this regard shortly,” the local government minister said, adding that FIRs had also been lodged against the operators and owners of illegal hydrants.
On the occasion, both sides also agreed to declare water theft as a non-bailable offence. However, the chief minister said since the assembly was not in session, an ordinance might be promulgated in this regard. He assured the MQM that a draft will be prepared and shared with the party.
The MQM delegation also urged the Sindh government to launch the 65 MGD (million gallons per day) project and finish it within a year.
Finance minister Syed Murad Ali Shah agreed to arrange for the required fund at any cost if it was possible to complete the project within a year at which Memon quipped that an international tender in this regard will be invited by the first week of June.
He said the government was giving high priority to the project and its documentation was at the final stage.
Talking about the K-IV water supply scheme, the finance minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said in the current annual development programme, the government had allocated Rs250 billion for the purpose and intended to allocate another Rs250 billion in the next financial year. “In this way the local government will have Rs5 billion at hand while the federal government will also be requested to allocate at least Rs3 billion,” he said.
Memon said that he had already begun work on the K-IV project and its formal ground breaking ceremony will be performed by the chief minister in the near future. He used the occasion to invite the MQM to launch the project jointly with the Sindh government.