Pak mulls 25 more desalination plants in Thar Coalfields

Karachi: Sindh government will install another 25 units of reverse osmosis (desalination) plants in the Thar coalfields. Sources in Sindh Mines and Mineral Development Department told Business Recorder here on Saturday that technical report on installation of the 25 units were submitted to the government last Monday.

According to sources, it is hoped that the units would be functional and provide usable water by the end of current fiscal year. The units will be installed in Lakhra coalfield near district Dadu, Sonda-Jheruk coalfield near district Thatta and Badin coalfield.

Each unit of the reverse osmosis plant has a capacity to treat 0.1 million gallons of saline water daily. The total capacity of 25 units, therefore, is to treat 2.5 million gallons of saline water per day.

The government had allocated Rs 550 million for installation of these plants in Badin and Dadu districts, the sources, and hoped that work on the project would be completed by the end of 2007-08 fiscal year. It may be recalled that 29 such units have already been installed in the Thar coalfiled.

The desalination units, on completion, besides removing salinity problem and for cooling the power plant, would also be used for domestic purpose in Lakhra coalfield, Dadu district and Badin, the officials said.