World Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment bank (AIIB) are ready to finance a project that will upgrade the operational capacity and reliability of Karachi Water Supply Board (KWSB) to deliver safe, clean and ready water supplies to the city’s inhabitants .
AIIB, which is based in Beijing, has approved a concept decision to improve Karachi’s water supply and sewerage treatment services. The bank’s executive board is backing the project with $160 million from their end. An additional $160 million will be provided by the lead financer, World Bank as well. The Sindh government will also be contributing an amount of $80 million for the project.
All in all, up to $400 million has been committed for the project. Â This project is expected to stabilize Karachi’s water supply to meet the needs of its citizens. It will also create an enabling environment for the private sector to invest in water supply and sewage systems projects in the future.
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AIIB’s recently released report says that Karachi is a city characterized by a lot of informal settlements and the proliferation of informal service providers. With the city urbanizing at a breakneck pace, at the cost of green areas and open planes, it’s becoming hard to keep up with the demand for water supply. Karachi’s current infrastructure is not able to keep up with the rapid increase in population, and therefore, it needs a solution for its issues related to infrastructure and municipal services.
The project is expected to increase the capacity for the city’s sewage system. It will accomplish this by constructing 180 million gallons of wastewater collection and treatment infrastructure at the Malir river basin. All of this will be part of the Greater Karachi Sewerage project.
All this is good news about new loans, with the related infrastructure development. Is there any sustainability of the project, any check and balance of revenues for water meter metering, sewage treatment, and maintenance of the sewage treatment, and waste water treatment for re-use in Karachi. Egypt has a model for water metering by use of technology, internet for water usage. Unless people learn that water wastage is a serious crime. With broad gauge water lines leaking, cows, livestock, dogs, are taking shower from our drinking waters. Hundreds of thousands of gallons water wasted. Is there any accounting for waste water. Leaked water. The loan should be given to consolidate the old pipe lines and changed. There should be a water utility, which should have meters, monitored from central place, for the usage. No meter reader will visit. Any leakage, or any thing with the line will create a high altert. Water is an important resource. This should be essentially checked, And everyone should pay for the water he ges at his door step.