Kamal terms Nespak’s report against K-IV project conspiracy

Terming the possible shelving of the K-IV bulk water supply project a gross injustice with Karachi, Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) Chairman Syed Mustafa Kamal has said that the city, which nourishes the whole country, has unfortunately been left longing for water.

In a recent statement, he said his party rejected a report of state-owned engineering consultant National Engineering Services Pakistan (Nespak) that termed the K-IV project not feasible.

“PSP rejects Nespak’s report. We have no hope for any good from the provincial and the federal governments, and that's why we are again requesting Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa to play his role to resolve this extreme human crisis currently being faced by the Karachiites,” Kamal said in a statement.

The PSP chief said the project was kicked off during his tenure as the Karachi mayor back in 2008. Later on, the provincial government further carried out research on it and the detailed designing of the mega project was done by Osmani Enterprises and eventually work on the project started in 2014.

Kamal maintained that if the final design prepared by the Osmani Enterprises was wrong, the provincial government was directly responsible for it because the design was finalised in its supervision.

The project was carefully evaluated and examined from all angles, he said, adding that now, instead of asking the contractor to expedite work, the provincial government was arbitrarily getting some reports prepared to shelve the project.

Kamal said once the project was abandoned, the contractor might flee with the money of the taxpayers. After spending Rs10 billion public money, shelving the project with reasons such as the canal system would be damaged if any earthquake occurred made no sense as natural calamities could damage any infrastructure, the PSP chief lamented. “This logic is unfortunate and beyond comprehension.”

He termed the possible scrapping of the K-IV project a conspiracy against Karachi. “The PSP has been demanding the start of phase 2 of K-IV along phase 1 to mitigate the water woes of citizens as well to reduce the project’s cost, but to no avail.”

He expressed his fear that Karachi might face scarcity of water in the near future. He said the K-IV project had been designed to address the water issue of the city and the rulers were showing their enmity for Karachi by scrapping the scheme.

The PSP would opt for peaceful protests against the government's move, he said, calling on the public to realise who were their true representatives, and who had the ability to resolve their issues with sincerity.