Sector manager of the World Bank Urban Development and Water Supply, Sanitation Development Department South Asia Region, Ming Zhang, met the Karachi Water & Sewerage Board managing director and stated that the World Bank was keen to fund KW&SB’s development programs to uplift the quality of life in country’s economic backbone, Karachi.
Through these projects KW&SB would be able to provide citizens of Karachi clean drinking water and stop water wastage through line leakages.
During their visit to KW&SB, Ming Zhang, Urban Specialist Huang Chyi-yun, Urban and DMR Specialist Shehnaz Arshad, Urban Specialist Fatima Zehra and Consultant Shoaib Arshad discussed several projects with Managing KW&SB Director Misbabhuddin Faird.
KW&SB Deputy Managing Director Planning Mashkoor ul Hasnain, Project Manager K-IV Saleem Siddiqui, Project Director K-III Imran Hashmi, PS to MD Khurram Shehzad and other concerned officers were also present.
On this occasion the KW&SB MD briefed that population wise Karachi is world’s 7th largest city and there was little progress on development projects for the metropolis of more than 20 million after 2006.
Whereas; JICA in their study calculated an additional need of 400 million gallons of daily supply during 2006. He said that Greater Karachi Water Supply Project K-IV and Greater Karachi Sewerage Treatment Plan S-III were delayed due to lack of fund.
Inviting the World Bank to fund these projects, he said water supply to Karachi was based on canal system that reached citizens after Chlorination and Filtration.
However, due to disposal of Industrial Waste and Sewage in the sea without treatment is causing marine pollution endangering marine life.
He said that with World Bank funding, KW&SB could complete these projects approved by the government of Pakistan, government of Sindh and ECNEC.
