KARACHI: Despite the Sindh government’s protest against Islamabad’s refusal to take up projects crucial to improved infrastructure of Karachi, the federal budget for the next financial year shows that not all such projects have been included in the spending list of the federal government, it emerged on Thursday.

The federal budget shows the government’s heavy emphasis on railroad projects, which are boastfully highlighted in its budget brief, while other projects, including urban infrastructure specially required for large cities to manage sewerage and water supply projects, have been left unattended largely.

The key projects chosen for Karachi in the next fiscal year’s public sector development programme (PSDP), which are duly mentioned in the budget speech, are communication or energy investments. The most important for Islamabad, which was termed the ‘premier project’ that “would transform the south-north corridor linking Sindh to upcountry through a rapid transit mode” is the 959-kilometre Karachi-Lahore motorway project for which Rs25 billion has been allocated.

The money will primarily be spent on the acquisition of land this year. Another Rs30bn will be allocated for it in the next year’s development budget.

Officials said this investment (Rs55bn) would enable them to complete land acquisition for the project. They said construction work on 276-km Lahore to Khanewal section, 387-km Multan to Sukkur section, 296-km Sukkur to Hyderabad section and 136-km Hyderabad to Karachi section would start soon and would be undertaken on a public-private partnership basis.

The government is confident that the project will be completed before its term expires.

Similarly, the officials said, allocations have been made for the rehabilitation of tracks from Karachi to Khanpur and Khanpur to Lodhran. Allocations have also been made to strengthen and rehabilitate 159 weak railway bridges. These measures will improve the speed and reduce travel time.

The officials said the government was committed to investing heavily in urban railway project, ‘which is being introduced initially in Karachi and Lahore’.

They said allocations had been made in the federal budget to revive the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR).

Besides, two Karachi Nuclear Coastal Power Projects — K-2/K-3 (2200 MW) — with Chinese assistance are being seen as ‘an important step forward in the direction of self-reliance in energy’.

The officials said six additional sites had been identified where other such projects could be set up. The project is estimated to take 72 months to complete.

The federal government officials have faintly showed the Karachi Northern Bypass and Lyari Expressway projects in their brief highlighting little with regard to their details.

The above two projects and the KCR had earlier been mentioned by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah among the 11 crucial schemes of the province which Islamabad had removed from the PSDP.

“The inclusion of some of those projects in the next year’s budget is a positive gesture on the part of the federal government, yet they did not consider many other projects which are vital for Sindh,” said a provincial minister while speaking to Dawn.

CM Shah after attending Council of Common Interests (CCI) and National Economic Council (NEC) meetings in Islamabad had protested last week that Islamabad had removed 11 important projects of Sindh from the PSDP.

Mr Shah’s protest led Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to assure him that his grievances would be addressed.

“We think, the inclusion of some projects in the budget reflects just that,” said the minister.

Sindh revealed earlier that the schemes removed showing financial constraints on part of the federal government from the PSDP included the KCR, Lyari Expressway, K-4 and S-3 projects for Karachi and one scheme related to Thar coal.

The K4, a Rs270million project, is designed to double the capacity of Karachi’s water supply system for the fact that with a population of 18 million people Karachi is already one of the most populous cities in the world and is estimated to have 28 million people by 2020, which and increasing industrial activity could need an additional 120MGD of water demand every two years.

The present demand for water in the city is around 600MGD of which approximately 500MGD is drawn from the Indus and the remaining 100MGD from the Hub dam. K4 is a system to supply an additional 600MGD water supply system, drawing water from the Indus.

The Greater Karachi Sewage Treatment Project will cost around Rs112m in which new facilities, including new truck sewers, would be constructed along with the renovation of existing facilities.

“These two projects are highly important for Karachi and will decide its future. If they are left unattended the city would be uncontrollable not only with regard to law and order as we witness today but as I say in all respects,” said the minister.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2014