KARACHI: The Defence Housing Authority on Monday informed the Supreme Court-mandated commission on water and sanitation in the province that no untreated waste water from its four phases will be discharged into the sea after April 2019.

The DHA through a report also undertook that the waste water from its remaining phases will be treated through integration with treatment plant-VI by 2020.

In compliance with the commission’s directive, the DHA filed the report after a series of meetings between officials of the DHA and the Cantonment Board Clifton (CBC).

Head of the commission retried apex court judge Justice Amir Hani Muslim examined the report and said that the report would be taken on record after some modifications.

Judicial commission asks KWSB to get flow meters installed by cantonments

The commission recommended that the capacity of the proposed sewage treatment plant in the Kublai Khan area of Seaview be raised to two million gallons daily instead of 1.5MGD while its completion date remain the same (April 30, 2019).

It further asked the DHA that the integration of sewage from phase I, II, II-extension, VII and VII-extension into S-III would be done at the main trunk, subject to the satisfaction of the S-III project director while the DHA should take up the issue of getting the requirements set by the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB).

The arrangements proposed by the DHA will be subject to the payment of dues to the KWSB for the facility provided by them through the main trunk of treatment plant-IV, it added.

The commission further ruled that no integration of DHA sewerage would be allowed into any other system either from treatment plant-V or otherwise while the DHA would ensure that no untreated waste was discharged into the sea or in any other system after the deadline given in the report.

Justice Muslim further said that the increase in supply of drinking water would depend on the overall availability of water in the KWSB system. The KWSB was directed to issue a notice to the cantonment boards to install flow meters where they are needed.

The commission also directed the cantonment boards to clear the arrears within one month after the KWSB chief complained that arrears were pending against monthly billings.

However, the commission appreciated the efforts made by the DHA and the CBC in reaching the conclusion which it said would have far-reaching effects on the public at large. It also lauded Asif Hyder Shah, a member of the commission’s task force, for bringing about consensus between the departments within and outside the province.

Initially, the commission had summoned the defence secretary after Justice Muslim, during a visit, found four points around Seaview where untreated sewage was allowed to fall into the sea.

10 more firms told to install treatment plants

The commission also directed the owners of around 10 more industries located in the industrial zones of the Port Qasim Authority (PQA) to install treatment plants and septic tanks and warned the industrialists that their units would be sealed if they failed to put the treatment plants and septic tanks in place within three and two months, respectively.

In the previous hearings, the commission had issued identical directives to over 30 other industries situated in the PQA industrial zones.

Federal energy secretary summoned

The commission observed that since there were some issues with regard to energising the schemes within and outside Karachi, the federal secretary for energy needed to appear before it on July 6 to make the schemes related to water supply and sewerage functional immediately.

Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2018