THATTA: As many as 50 out of the 62 reverse osmosis (RO) plants installed in Thatta district have gone out of order one after the other leaving over 70pc population of the district without safe drinking water.

The plants, installed by the public health engineering and fisheries departments, had started developing faults a couple of years ago and in the absence of proper repair and maintenance, many of them stopped functioning. It has been gathered by this writer that only 12 of the 62 plants across the district are in operation.

Residents of the affected areas said that they had been facing lack of safe drinking water for one-and-half years as the departments concerned were paying no heed to their repeated calls to get the plants of their respective areas repaired or replaced.

Most of the RO plants have been installed in the four coastal talukas of Thatta, Mirpur Sakro, Ghorabari and Keti Bandar whereas some plants were installed in certain water-deficient villages located in the hilly terrain of Kohistan. An amount of Rs180 million was spent in implementing the project.

Sources privy to the matter pointed out that there had been allegations of corruption, malpractices and kickbacks on the part of certain elements responsible for the smooth operation and maintenance of the plants. They argued the plants continued to go out of order one after the other as these issues were never addressed by the authorities concerned and the provincial government.

When some officials of the public health engineering department were asked for their comments, they said there were many reasons leading to the mess. They claimed that the required quantity of diesel and other lubricants was not being provided regularly to ensure proper and unhindered operation of the plants. The “substandard” batteries made available to the department for use in the plants’ operation and handling of maintenance work by the “unqualified” staff recruited on political grounds also contributed to the situation, they claimed.

While civil society organisations and the NGOs operating in the district agree with the officials, the public at large also accuse the department of being hand in glove with unscrupulous elements.

It is learnt that the maintenance staff is not being paid their salaries and dues for 11 months. The people affected by the persistent shortage of drinking water in the district argue that how could the department concerned blame the staff for their questionable performance when they were not even getting their salaries for almost a year. They apprehend that the remaining 12 RO plants would also meet the same fate if drastic measures were not taken to address all issues.

There are around 100 technical and non-technical employees hired by M/s Pak Oasis, which has installed 220 RO plants in three districts — 62 in Thatta, 27 in Sujawal and 131 in Badin under a public-private partnership venture. The firm had stopped paying salaries to its employees claiming that the funds committed by the provincial government were not being released as per the agreement.

A recent survey of the affected areas suggested that safe drinking water is not available in 12 union councils — Jhimpir, Soof Shoro, Onger, Tando Hafiz Shah, Jherruk, Sonda, Chilya, Jungshahi, Kohistan, Gharo, Dhabeji and Bhambhore — and the villages in the hilly terrain whose RO plants are lying non-functional include Suleman Shoro, Loonikot, Mohammad Bux Shoro, Haji Ali Mohammad Shoro, Ghodar Jakhro and Munghar Khan Palijo.

The affected people said they had to use unhygienic subsoil water to meet their daily requirements. “We are prone to waterborne and skin diseases due to the use of the harmful subsoil saline water,” some of the village elders said, and urged the government to take immediate steps to revitalise the RO plants.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2020