Karachi: Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday (April 13) – during his visit to Karachi – instructed the provision of funds for the K-4 water project and promised the inclusion of the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) into the China-Pakistan-Economic-Corridor (CPEC), news sources reported. The Premier met with Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Syed Murad Ali Shah and discussed various development projects for the province.
The premier asked Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) Chairman Lieutenant General Muzammil Hussain to complete the K-4 project by 2024 in order to secure a consistent supply of water to the city. CM Shah discussed the 1.17 trillion Karachi Transformation Package (KTP) involving different projects for water supply, sewage treatment management, internal highways, and mass transport.
As per the proposed funding plan, the provincial government would provide PKR 686 billion, while the federal PSDP will contribute PKR 487 billion. Furthermore, the overall cost of public-private partnership (3P) projects at an advanced stage of development is PKR 176.9 billion, with a total viable gap fund of PKR 32 billion available per year. CM Shah requested that the premier issue sovereign guarantees for megaprojects and allocate PKR 10 billion per year to cover the provincial government’s yearly commitment of PKR 32 billion.
Furthermore, PM Sharif guaranteed the Sindh Chief Minister his help in the acquisition of buses for the BRT project. Meanwhile, he vowed to hand over three large public hospitals in Karachi to the provincial administration.
Nauman Ahmad is an imaginative Pisces whose love for literature and nature is unparalleled. When he's not reading or hiking, he's sleeping and eating, which gives him plenty of energy for his next adventure.
