Karachiites to Get Additional 650 Million Gallons of Water by October 2023

The federal government aims to start construction on the Greater Karachi Water Supply Project K-IV within 4 months.

The project cost, which was initially Rs. 25 billion, is now said to have exceeded Rs. 100 billion. In this regard, a meeting to review the progress of Greater Karachi Water Supply Project K-IV was held in Islamabad with Federal Minister for Planning Asad Umar in the chair.

Additional Secretary Development Abdul Aziz Uqaili, Project Director Amir Mughal, and Project Consultants Dr. Bashir Lakhani, and senior officials attended the meeting.

Project Director Amir Mughal briefed the meeting about the revised PC-1 of the K-IV project, the project components, and design details. It was informed in the meeting that WAPDA had completed the revised design of 650 MGD K-IV to be executed as phases. The project work was said to commence in 3-4 months, to be completed by October 2023. All planning, design, and procurement activities are as per the project timeline, and the construction of this project will be completed by October 2023.

The project director informed the chair that the design of the K-IV project has been developed with a modular approach, in which 5 pumping stations with 5 large mild steel pipes of 84 inches diameter pipes each carrying 130 MGD with a total capacity of 650 MGD have been planned to be executed.

The chair was informed that WAPDA had submitted PC-1 with a modified design of the 650 MGD K-IV project with various options for execution of the project, which can be done in phases. The project director was advised for ensuring an uninterrupted power supply to operate the pumping stations and to supply water to the proposed reservoirs.

Asad Umar directed the Planning Division to expedite the processing of this Revised PC-1 to get it approved as early as possible from CDWP and ECNEC.

It is worth mentioning that the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) had approved Rs. 25.551 billion K-IV in 2014 and the prices/cost of the project were based on the rates of 2010.

The federal government had committed to share 50 percent of the cost of the project while the remaining 50 percent is being borne by the provincial government. The project was scheduled to be completed in three years, i.e., 2019. Sources in the planning ministry say that the cost of the project has already exceeded the 2019 revised PC-1, which was estimated at Rs. 75 billion.

Sources suggest that design and site issues, major deviations in quantities, and exchange rate hikes, are the key reasons behind such a huge increase and that the project cost may rise to over Rs. 100 billion.

The Minister expressed satisfaction over the pace of progress and work on the development of revised planning and design of this project which is in line with the Prime Minister’s commitment to ensure water availability to the residents of Karachi in the shortest possible time.

Faiz Paracha is a seasoned broadcast journalist with over 15 years’ experience in reporting and e...



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