ISLAMABAD: On Monday, the Karachi Bulk Water Supply Scheme (K-IV) was approved by the federal government along with three other mega infrastructure projects.
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) conducted a meeting, chaired by Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin, in which four projects were approved. Two road projects for Punjab, the Kharian motorway and the K-IV project were approved in the Ecnec meeting.
The K-IV project aims to provide a 260-million gallons per day (MGD) supply and was previously supposed to be completed by the Sindh government in 2014. But the project was then transferred to Karachi Transformation Plan (KTP).
The water project has been approved at a cost of Rs126.4 billion, which is 396 per cent higher than the cost decided in 2014. The per-gallon cost has exceeded to Rs0.096 from Rs0.027.
The K-IV will allow water transmission to three reservoirs of Karachi from the 100km distant Keenjhar Lake. Nearly 19 million citizens will benefit from the Karachi Bulk Water Supply Scheme.