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KARACHI:
The Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat on Friday decided to hold quarterly review meetings to monitor K-IV and other key projects, push for faster progress and proposed to convene a joint session of all relevant Senate committees to help resolve Karachi’s long-standing water and sewerage problems.
The body, which met Senator Rana Mehmoodul Hassan at the Sindh Assembly Building Presidency, was briefed in detail on the performance of National Engineering Services of Pakistan (Nespak) and Ogra.
While taking note of the water supply problems in Karachi, the panel urged the Sindh government to take swift measures to curb the tanker mafia and improve the metropolis’s existing water infrastructure in tandem with the growing population.
The Senate body decided to convene quarterly review meetings to monitor the K-IV and other important projects and accelerate their progress. He also suggested holding a joint meeting of all relevant Senate committees with the attendance of Sindh Chief Minister, Karachi Mayor and senior officials to resolve Karachi’s long-standing water and sewage problems.
The senators expressed concern over the water supply situation in Karachi and the unauthorized operations of the tanker mafia, lamenting that the tanker mafia has been allowed to “hijack the city’s water supply”, forcing citizens to pay for water.
The committee urged the Sindh government to take immediate steps to curb the oil tanker mafia and improve the existing water infrastructure in Karachi in accordance with the K-IV water supply project and the rapidly growing needs of the city.
The committee further decided that matters relating to the funding and progress of the K-IV project would be reviewed quarterly. He suggested convening a single-point agenda joint meeting of the Senate Standing Committees on Finance with the participation of Sindh Chief Minister, Chief Secretary, Karachi Mayor, KWSC Director General and other stakeholders. (With input from the APP)
