The residents of Mithi and the surrounding areas are forced to buy water from the tanker mafia. “Those who cannot afford to buy water are drawing contaminated water from wells,” says Dr Raja Shad.
Local residents complain that over 635 reverse osmosis (RO) plants installed in the area are dysfunctional. The supply of piped water from Naukot area has stopped due unavailability of water in the only irrigation water channel of the desert district, Rann Minor.
The PPP government had launched the mega projects of installing RO plants to meet the water requirement of Tharis. It granted the Rs10billion project to install and maintain the RO plants to a private firm, Pak Oasis. However, the firm could not install the required 750 plants. It used sub-standard material due to which the plants developed faults and had to be shut down. Among the dysfunctional plant is also Asia’s biggest RO plant at Misri Shah in the outskirts of Mithi town.
In a letter to the CM Sindh, Surendar Valasai states that remedial actions must be taken at the earliest to restore the water supply. There are also reports that staff of PHED is providing water to selected areas only, he adds.
Last year, the Sindh government awarded the contract to another private firm, and reportedly released Rs2billion to them to put the faulty plants into operation. But that effort has also failed.
Despite repeated attempts, TFT was unable to seek comment on the issue from the responsible officials.
Chief Minister Sindh’s Special Assistant on Human Rights, Surendar Valasai, who is a Thari himself, has requested CM Syed Murad Ali Shah to direct officials to ensure availability of drinking water to the residents of Mithi town. In a letter to the CM Sindh, he states that remedial actions must be taken at the earliest to restore the water supply.
There are also reports that staff of PHED is providing water to selected areas only, he says.