CM okays wastewater treatment plant, desalination plant projects

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah chaired the 33rd Public-Private Partnership Policy Board meeting on Thursday and approved three important projects: a wastewater treatment plant (TP), a 5mgd desalination plant and Korangi Link Road in Karachi.

The TP-IV project includes the establishment, operation and maintenance of a green-field sewage treatment plant in Korangi to deal with wastewater flows from the Shah Faisal, Landhi, Korangi and Malir Town areas.

A transaction advisory services agreement was signed between the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Office of Public-Private Partnership (OPPP) and the Karachi Water & Sewerage Board (KWSB) on November 11, 2020.

The policy board approved and endorsed the transaction advisory services agreement signed between the KWSB and the OPPP, deciding that the issue of segregating TP-IV from Phase-II of the Karachi Water & Sewerage Services Improvement Project may be raised at the appropriate forum.

The ADB has engaged technical and legal consultants for the project, and initiated detailed feasibility study. Three hundred acres of land is earmarked for TP-IV in the revenue board record along with a demarcation plan (Deh Dih, Korangi), of which 12 acres are under possession of another government organisation.

The policy board issued directions to all the departments concerned to facilitate and ensure the provision of the entire 300 acres of land to the KWSB free of all encumbrances, including encroached land, so thatthe project may be taken forward.

The KWSB is also interested in pursuing the desalination plant project under public-private partnership to establish a 5mgd desalination plant using seawater reverse-osmosis technology, primarily to meet the water needs of the Clifton and DHA areas.

The policy board granted the KWSB access to the project development facility funds, as it justified the need for project feasibility so that external consultants may be engaged for the project.

Korangi Link Road

The existing Korangi Road in Karachi has a narrow right of way. The widening of the existing Korangi Road to accommodate a four-lane bridge will require businesses and residential areas along the road to be demolished.

The consultants said that remedial measures have been taken into account, adding that the project will create an alternative route for commuters by distributing the traffic load on Korangi Road, which will provide high-speed alternative access to the Korangi area and beyond. On the basis of the proposed remedies, the policy board approved the project.