20000212

Site body seeks permission to dig wells

RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: Site Association of Industry (SAI) Chairman, Abdullah Rafi has urged the Sindh Governor to accord permission to Site Limited and SAI to dig wells and lay a dedicated pipeline from Lyari bed to carry the sub-soil water to the main resource under construction and distribute the water from there to the industries on self-financing basis.

He said that after getting disappointed with Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB), the Site Limited (developing authorities of the area) and Site Association was jointly working on the project of abstracting sub-soil water and distributing it through separate pipelines to the industries on self-financing basis.

About 10 sub-soil wells have been bored and the water is being supplied to industries in certain areas but the quantity is not sufficient. Site needs more wells, he added.

Abdullah Rafi pointed out that there were various areas of sub-soil water in the bed of Lyari River behind Habib Dyeing Mills and it could supply 3-4 million gallons water per day to the industries. A dedicated pipeline from there can be drawn to connect the source with the sub-soil pipeline net-work being laid down by Site Ltd.

He said that industrialists of Site area were very much disappointed with the KWSB authorities for not providing the required quantity of water to 2,200 industries situated in the biggest industrial area of the country which was providing 30 percent of GDP and giving employment to more than 500,000 people.

He lashed out at the authorities concerned for not providing the agreed quota of 9 MGD water to Site area. The present requirement of water has reached to 20 MGD, while Site area is getting only four MGD on average, which is peanuts and due to which the industries are losing Rs. 45 million per hour, but the authorities are heedless, he added.