Supply of water to Karachi: Three contracts for work on Phase-I of K-IV awarded

ISLAMABAD: The Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) has awarded three contracts worth Rs 98.5 billion for construction of phase-I of Greater Karachi Water Supply Scheme, also known as K-IV, to supply 260 million gallons per day (MGD) of water to the country’s largest city.

The ceremony at which the contracts were signed was held on Thursday at the WAPDA Mega Hydel Projects Complex. Federal Minister for Water Resources Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah was the chief guest.

WAPDA Chairman Naveed Asghar Chaudhry, Member for Water Javed Latif, Member for Power Jamil Akhtar and representatives of the consultants and construction firms were present on the occasion.

WAPDA’s general manager (south) projects/ project director for K-IV and representatives of the contractors signed the contract documents on behalf of their organisations.

Addressing the ceremony Water Resources Minister Shah said that K-IV is a vital project not just for Karachi but the entire country as it will help address the issue of water supply to Pakistan’s economic hub.

Lauding the efforts of WAPDA “for streamlining the project”, the minister said it was a great day for K-IV and expressed the hope that the scheme will be completed in accordance with the timelines.

Briefing the minister, WAPDA’s GM (south) projects said that phase-I of the K-IV project will involve construction works in districts of Thatta, Malir and Karachi West. The project’s approved PC-I is worth Rs 126.5 billion and it envisages supply of 260 MGD of water to Karachi.

He said the project is to be completed through eight packages, two of which have already been awarded and three were awarded on Thursday. The remaining three will be awarded in the next ten days.

Two contractors have already been mobilised to the site and construction work will commence in the first week of July. The phase-I of K-IV is scheduled to be completed in October of 2023, he added.

The three contracts signed on the occasion included Contract Package K-IV – PL-I worth Rs 52.71 billion for pressurised water transmission MS pipelines and allied works from RD 0 to RD 64+200; contract package K-IV — PL-II worth Rs 28.846 billion for pressurised water transmission MS pipelines and allied works from RD 64+200 to RD 111+700; and contract package K-IV – PS worth Rs 17.40 billion for engineering procurement and construction.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022