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Water and sewage networks in industrial zones: CDGK has 8mths to finish Rs 2.5b projects

By Jamil Khan

KARACHI: The city government’s rehabilitation and improvement plan for all four industrial zones of the city needs to be completed in seven to eight months.

The pace of work in these industrial zones has slowed down due to the insufficient supply of GRP pipes from Dubai, the shifting of underground utility services and the delay of payments to the contractors, Daily Times learnt Tuesday.

Sources in the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) said that the rehabilitation and improvement of water and sewerage networks in Landhi, Korangi, North Karachi and F.B. Area industrial zones was aimed at improving their overall conditions. These zones have more than 5,000 industrial units and their old systems need to be replaced. The new network will enhance water supply to these industries and also discharge industrial waste into disposal points through a proper network.

“City Nazim Mustafa Kamal, after taking charge, had announced that all industrial zones would be revamped. He included these projects in the Tameer-e-Karachi Programme with the provincial and federal government’s financial assistance,” he said.

The industrial zones produce more than 60 percent of the national exchequer and their deteriorating condition is being noticed by foreign visitors, sources said. These zones lacked proper water and sewerage networks and this was also affecting their overall production capacity.

“All zones were inundated for a couple of weeks during monsoon rains in the last two years. The conditions of roads and streets also deteriorated in the absence of a proper discharge system,” he said.

Kamal had also announced that GRP (glass-fibre reinforced plastic) pipes would be imported from Dubai to replace the old pipes. These new pipes are corrosion-resistant and much better than the locally manufactured pre-stressed pipes.

Projects worth Rs 2.5 billion were initiated in the zones for this purpose during the last two years and were meant to be completed within seven to eight months. The projects include laying water and sewerage pipelines, conduits, drains and linking all networks with the main drains for a smooth flow of water regularly. None of the projects for these industrial zones has been completed although the current regime of the city government has finished two years of its tenure.

“The massive and haphazardly installed underground utility services like KESC, SSGC, PTCL and others hamper the smooth flow of traffic and their relocation also takes extra long,” he said.

Council of Industries of Karachi Chairman and prominent industrialist, Haseeb-ur-Rahman, has refuted the claims about delay in the projects and said it was just a part of the work. “Due to the massive relocation of underground utility services, removal of encroachments and others the duration of these projects which was being extended, not delayed,” he said.

Tameer-e-Karachi Programme Project Manager Misbahuddin Farid was repeatedly contacted but he was unavailable.

The city government has also started various other schemes for the improvement of roads, footpaths, link roads, streetlights and beautification works in these industrial zones for which the city government has allocated a huge sum of Rs 4.5 billion.

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