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KARACHI:
The Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat on Friday decided to hold quarterly review meetings to monitor the K-IV and other key projects, push for faster progress, and suggested convening a joint session of all relevant Senate committees to help resolve Karachi’s long-standing water and sewage problems.
The body, which met with Senator Rana Mehmoodul Hassan in the chair of Sindh Assembly Building, received detailed briefings on the performance of National Engineering Services Pakistan (Nespak) and Ogra.
While noting water supply problems in Karachi, the panel urged the Sindh government to take swift steps to curb the tanker mafia and upgrade the existing water infrastructure in the metropolis in line with the growing population.
The Senate body decided to convene quarterly review meetings to monitor K-IV and other important projects and expedite progress on them. It also proposed to hold a joint meeting of all the relevant Senate Committees with the participation of Sindh Chief Minister, Karachi Mayor and senior officials to resolve Karachi’s long-standing water and sewage problems.
Expressing concern over the water supply situation in Karachi and unauthorized operations by the tanker mafia, the senators lamented 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 measures to curb the tanker mafia and upgrade Karachi’s existing water infrastructure in line with the K-IV water supply project and the city’s rapidly growing needs.
The committee further decided that the issues regarding the financing and progress of the K-IV project would be reviewed on a quarterly basis. It proposed to convene a joint agenda meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance with the participation of the Sindh Chief Minister, Chief Secretary, Karachi Mayor, KWSC Director and other stakeholders. (With input from APP)
