The K-IV project

The thinking that Karachi’s water woes will end after the completion of the K-IV project is wrong. The current demand of water is almost 1,240 million gallons per day (according to the KWSB website) and the supply from the Indus River through Keenjhar Lake is just 550mgd. Due to low rains the water supply from the Hub dam (100mgd) has also stopped. So there is a supply and demand gap of almost 700mgd. If the K-IV project started this year its first phase (260mgd) can take up to five years to complete and the whole project (all three phases – 650mgd) may take 12 to 15 years.
Beside K-IV, the federal and provincial governments should also focus on alternate sources of water, ie, to make use of sea water through RO plants. Reverse Osmosis (RO) plants are also capable of generating electricity. An example of RO plants is the Ras Al Khair plant (273mgd) in Saudi Arabia, constructed in three years and the Sorek plant (164mgd) in Israel that was constructed in two years. This is the only, and quickest, solution to water crisis.
Sarang Essa Jokhio
Thatta