A detailed account by the government of Sindh has been chalked out, indicating the graph of progress that has evidently been elevated concerning the sectors of health and water management in the province since the preceding decade.

The report is correspondingly putting into contrast the two regimes, in one of which the leading group, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had taken up the federal level of governance as well as a provincial administration in Sindh.

With the country under the persistent peril of encountering a major water shortage in the coming years, the report reveals the efforts of the government of Sindh placing ample significance in ensuring the inhabitants of Sindh are provided with an abundant and clean supply of water.

The report compares the statistics of water and sanitation to have increased by 44.8 percent in 2013-2018, in contrast to that of 2008-2013.

Apart from that, the statements are also displaying the provincial government’s allocation of Rs 28.8 billion in the Annual Development Plan (ADP) 2017-18, to Local Government Housing and Town Planning, PHE and RDD departments for progress outlines relating to water and sanitation.

Furthermore, the account depicting progress also keeps track of the funds worth Rs 29.122 billion capitalized for 2018-19, to tackle problems of water and sanitation in the province. These investments are inclusive of projects for Karachi like K-IV that totalled to an amount of Rs 25.551 billion, S-III, costing an approximate of Rs 36.117 billion and the Five Treatment Plants that equalled to Rs 11.79 billion.

Additionally, as per the report the government in the past span had initiated plentiful projects to amend the water and health crises in the metropolis. It sheds light onto the Manora Karachi water supply project in 2008-09 that cost Rs 386 million and had benefitted 77,222 people. On the other hand, the sewerage systems that were upgraded under the Lyari Development Plan are aiding 700,000 people, according to the official testimony.

In addition to advances in the industrial hub, the report indicates progress in other parts of Sindh as well. These are inclusive of Master Plan for Qasimabad, and Sewerage Pumping Stations in Hyderabad, claiming to have assisted a hefty populace.

Similar schemes also commenced in Jamshoro where drainage projects of Rs 305.6 million were launched in 2016-17; whereas Shaheed Benazirabad saw the unveiling of the Urban Drainage Scheme Phase-IV that predicts clearance of 10.074 MGD forage water which will be ready for use in 2020.

The Sindh government has also specified various installations of Reverse Osmosis (R.O) plants in not only Tharparkar but 25 different villages around the region as well.

Moreover the report suggests that the areas of Sanghar, Qambar Shahadkot, Badin, Dadu and Shikarpur have all seen the initiation of several developments that have prevented the water problems from taking a ruinous turn.

Treading ahead on the water crisis, the report has also given comprehensive insight on the abundant projects instigated by the government of Sindh, that have not only advanced the irrigation frame and competence of water consumption but has rid the province of issues like salinity and water logging as well. This progress has taken a fast pace with Rs 139 billion that have been financed on the enhancement of these structures in the last ten years.

These developmental schemes have rehabilitated Sindh, Guddu and Sukkur Barrages that were funded for by the World Bank at a cost of Rs 21.241 billion. As per the account, the World Bank had also funded the Sindh Water Sector for Rs 30 billion, along with the Sindh Resilience Project amounting to Rs 10 million.

The construction of dams in Lower and Central Kohlistan was concluded in 2012, costing Rs 1.6 billion which consequently amplified ground water reservoirs in various parts of the province.

The report further goes on to explore the significance put in by the provincial government in the health division by discerning copious projects that maintained its stability. These include the creation of State of the Art Shaheed Mohtarma Benzair Bhutto Accident, Emergency and Trauma Centre in Karachi, costing an approximate of Rs 5 billion; the formation of Jacobabad Institute of Medical Sciences worth of Rs 1.8 billion and Sukkur’s Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation.

The account also acknowledged the government’s feats in attaining a 36 percent elevation in absolute immunization coverage; a boost in TB case detection cases from 46 percent to 64 percent and TB treatment success rate that went from 72 percent to 89 percent.

Stirring on the matter of nutritional predicaments in the province, the government’s chief initiatives have stated to have tackled the issue. These include the inauguration of the Rs 2.4 billion investment called ‘Sehatmand Sindh’ –a muti-sectoral accelerated action plan for malnutrition; and the Nutrition Support Program for Sindh that reduced the stages of malnutrition among those below five years of age and pregnant and lactating women.

A Costed Implementation Plan (CIP) was also mentioned that presented a profound account of Sindh Population Policy for family planning during the time span of 2015-20, with an investment of Rs 2.2 billion.

This was inclusive of the eight Family Welfare Centers (FWC) and the two Reproductive Health Services-A Centers (RHS-A) that were launched in Tharparkar to prompt family planning and behavioral change. The Population Welfare Department in the previous eight years has also provided 8,052,060 Couple Year Protection (CYP) to avoid inadvertent pregnancies.

A target of raising the CPR from 30 percent to a 40 has also been cited in the account with the assistance of the Accelerated Action Plan (AAP) and the Family Planning (FP) Services, by 2020 which will mend the heath circumstances of the mother and child and will diminish undernourishment and stunting as well.

 

The writer is a freelance development consultant.