MITHI: Caretaker Sindh Chief Minister Justice (retired) Maqbool Baqar was shocked to learn during a visit of Tharparkar on Wednesday that 555 out of a total of 834 reverse osmosis plants installed across the desert district, including the one in Mithi touted as the Asia’s largest solar desalination complex, had stopped functioning and ordered forensic audit of the firm contracted to run the plants.

He said during a visit of the RO plant in Mithi and 1.5 MGD plant in Islamkot, which were out of order, that the firm would not only be prosecuted but all the funds released to it over the years would also be recovered.

He ordered completion of all pending inquiries against the firm, Oslo, and recovery of Rs380 million funds and Rs80m on account of electricity liabilities.

Accompanied by caretaker information minister Ahmad Shah, the chief minister visited the solar desalination plant complex in Mithi, which was touted as the Asia’s largest RO plant. The complex gave him an abandoned look and he was told on inquiry that it had not been functioning for the last eight years while most of the solar panels installed on its rooftop had already disappeared.

555 out of 834 reverse osmosis plants, including ‘the Asia’s largest’, stop functioning in Thar

The chief minister was told that plant was inaugurated in January 2015 initially operated by the energy department. The plant, which was designed to supply drinking water in addition to producing one megawatt of electricity for Mithi town and 100 villages, was later handed over to Public Health Engineering Department Tharparkar, which contracted it Oslo.

The chief minister was informed that the Oslo abandoned the plant after it developed faults and came to a halt, leaving a liability of Rs80 million electricity bill. The plant had been run on a generator just to test how it could be made functional.

He was told that the plant required replacement of all membranes and some of the rusted equipment. But, on top of it, the electricity bill of Rs80 million had to be cleared before undertaking the task to make it functional, he was informed. The CM then ordered forensic audit of the expenditures incurred by the firm.

Plant in Islamkot

The CM visited 1.5 MGD RO plant in Islamkot, which was established by Sindh Coal Authority at a cost of Rs388.6174 million and opened in January 2015.

With a 650 KVA transformer, a 650 KVA generator and eight tube wells, the plant was designed to produce 25,000 gallons water per hour but it had also been out of order for a long time.

The officials concerned told the CM in answer to his queries that an amount of Rs380 million was provided to the firm to run it but the plant hardly functioned.

He was told that Tharparkar district had a total of 834 RO plants, out of which 555 had stopped functioning.

High school in a shambles

The chief minister visited government boys high school in Islamkot which had only 19 teachers for 1671 students. No child could answer basic questions of English and science when the CM tested their prowess during the visit of classrooms.

He called director of education and learned that the officer had never inspected that school. The lab was in a shambles and no practical was conducted there. There were computers in the lab but no IT teacher. He found some computers had still been still lying packed since 2008.

The CM said that the school should have a teacher for 30 students but the director never bothered to visit it. He talked to the minister of education and secretary and conveyed his extreme displeasure over the state of affairs.

PPHI rural health centre

The chief minister paid a surprise visit to the PPHI-run RHC in Islamkot where he found a patient lying on a bed in emergency ward with an oxygen mask on his face. When he checked the mask there was no oxygen coming through it.

The CM was extremely displeased and warned in-charge of the RHC to mend his ways, otherwise, he would cancel the PPHI contract if such frauds were made. In the children ward, the patients faced shortage of medicines. The RHC had a sanctioned strength of 47 doctors but only 18 were working.

The CM directed the director general of Health Sindh to visit all the PPHI facilities and submit him a detailed report on their performance. If the PPHI was being given additional funds they would be recovered, he said.

The chief minister also visited Dr TF Jamal Veterinary Dispensary and Mithi Civil Hospital where he went from ward to ward and interacted with patients.

He found the hospital in comparatively good condition and later visited Marvi’s well and museum at Bhalva village.

Published in Dawn, December 21st, 2023