KARACHI: On Wednesday news reported there are grim chances for Karachiites to have a sufficient quantity of water in the coming two-three years as a major water supply project for the metropolis has been shelved for a few more years.
The Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) in July 2016 had assigned the construction work for phase one of K-IV to the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO).
Completion of the first phase will provide Karachi with an additional 260 million gallons of water per day and will spread across 120 canals and a network of pipelines, according to official estimates.
The design and alignments of the project had to be changed again and again for unexplainable reasons. The project has been delayed for the last many years.
It was the responsibility of the Karachi water board to provide land and electricity for the project, but it failed and wasted three years from 2015 to 2018, read the publication, adding that as per the official documents, the completion of the first phase of the ‘Fourth Additional Water Supply Project’ has been delayed till 2023.
Work on the K-IV project is likely to start by November 2021, as the consultant will then submit the project design, PC-I, and bidding documents by July next year.
The Water and Power Development Authority has to complete the civil work of the project in 20 months, by July 2023, the official documents suggested.
K-IV has already been shelved for about 18 years and civil work of the project has also been stalled since August 2018.