- Protest being carried out over non-payment of salaries
The workers rendering their services for the reverse osmosis (RO) plants closed down over 450 plants across the desert region of Thar in order to record their protest against non-payment of salary of last four months, a private media outlet reported on Saturday.
Thar Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Asif Jameel said according to a report confirming closure of the RO plants.
The protest and closure of RO plants have caused an extreme water shortage in various towns and villages of Thar, forcing them to fall back on the brackish and often unhygienic water of ponds and wells.
The government of Sindh has installed hundreds reverse osmosis plants in the province to ensure supply of hygienic drinking water in arid regions of Sindh, which includes districts of Thar, Thatta, Badin, Sukkur, Shaheed Benazirabad, Noshero Feroz.
Recently, Sindh Local Government Minister Saeed Ghani in a meeting had directed the officials to ensure that all dysfunctional RO plants in the province are operational within two months.
Despite the importance of the RO plants as a major source of drinking water in Thar and other arid regions, it is yet to be known why the workers of these plants not being regularly paid their salaries.
Reverse osmosis (RO) has been a water purification technology that uses a semipermeable membrane to remove ions, molecules and larger particles from drinking water.
