Orders public health engineering dept to make 200 RO plants operational in Thar
KARACHI: Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has directed the local government dept to complete the transition period of local councils, which is still in progress so that elected people can serve people of their areas. He also directed the Public Health Engineering Department to prepare a scheme under which unfunctional RO plants could be functionalized in the interest of the local people.
CM Murad was presiding over a joint meeting of different departments which he convened after holding meetings of party workers in divisional headquarters. Those who attended the meeting include Minister Education Syed Sardar Shah, Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah, PSCM Agha Wasif, Chairman P&D Najam Shah, Secretary Energy Musadiq Khan, SMBNR Baqaullah Unar, Secretary Livestock Kazim Jatoi, Secretary Local Govt Khalid Hyder Shah, Secretary IT Asif Ikram, Secretary Excise & Taxation Saleem Rajput, Secretary Environment Nabila Umar, Secretary Mines & Mineral Tahir Sangi and other concerned officers.
Sindh CM said that during his meeting with the elected representatives of local councils in the divisional headquarters, he was told that the transition period was in progress in their areas. Secretary Local govt Khalid Hyder Shah said that some local bodies have not completed their transition work. At this, the CM directed the local government Secretary to complete the transition at once and hand overpowers to the elected representatives so that they could serve their people.
During the meeting, Shah addressed complaints about non-functioning RO plants in various villages. Secretary PHE, Sohail Qureshi, informed that 140 RO plants were repaired in March, funded by the M&R budget. Shah instructed him to fix those in Mirpurkhas division within two months. Qureshi assured repair of around 100 RO plants from Sukkur, Mirpur Mathelo, Khairpur, etc., within two months.
The CM directed authorities concerned to repair and make operational 200 RO plants in Tharparkar and Umerkot districts from the current M&R budget and urged resolving salary issues for PHE department employees. He also instructed a scheme to convert dysfunctional RO plants into solar energy in the next budget. Furthermore, Shah urged the Energy dept to ensure minimal load shedding during hot weather in rural areas, instructing dialogue with HESCO and SEPCO authorities.
Shah directed the Energy dept to talk to talk to HESCO and SEPCO authorities not to resort to prolonged load shedding during the sweltering weather. “The rural areas of the province are in the grip of hot weather therefore, power-distributing companies should take care of the people by not resorting to load shedding during mid-day,” he said.
