Utility Services  



Water Supply

Larkano is located at a distance of 8 miles from Indus River, between Dadu Canal (perennial), and Rice Canal (non-perennial). therefore the underground aquifer in the area consitutes the water source as it is annually replenished and the city can tap underground water without creating salinity problems to the aquifer. There are 15 deep and two shallow tubewells in Larkano. The discharge of each deep tubewell is 1.5 cusecs and hence the total capacity for 15 tubewells is 22.5 cusecs i.e. 8.08 Mg/Day in case they operate on 16 hours per day basis. At present, the tubewells run only for 6 hours per day and their daily discharge is 3.0 Mg/day (13600 cu.m/day).

There is one 23-metre high elevated water tank with a capacity of 300,000 gallons (1360 cu.m). In spite of that, some parts of the city are provided with water by direct pumping from tubewells.

After deducting 20% losses, it is estimated that 2.4 Mg/day of water reach the consumers (domestic, industrial, institutional, and government uses). The existing distribution network covers about 50% of the urban area and about 80% of all dwelling units. Housing units which are not served by the network make use of handpumps and communal taps. It is estimated that there are about 150 communal taps providing water free of charge.

Larkano Municipal committee (LMC) is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the water supply network. For this task it is assisted by Public Health Engineering Department (PHED).

Sewerage

The sewer network in Larkano consists mainly of open drains and reinforced concrete (RCC) underground sewers. Open drains, with some exceptions, constitute the collection drains in lanes and streets, receiving effluent from dwellings. Wastewater is collected into main sewers and flows by gravity into the disposal works. According to information provided by PHED, about 80% of the city area is covered by the network. The remaining 20% dispose of their wastewater to septic tanks or to cessools (2'x 2'). Wastewater is collected from cesspools and septic tanks by donkey carts or tractor trollies with tanks.

The planned sewerage system in the city dates from 1971 when the urban drainage scheme (Phase I) for Larkano was implemented by PHED. The scheme provided for the collection of wastewater from the houses with open surface drains built by the LMC, connected to underground sewers by means of catch/grit pits. Wastewater is ultimately conveyed by gravity to disposal works via RCC underground sewers. There it is screened, collected in tanks and then pumped to two oxidation ponds. After a retention time of about 7 days it is discharged into a "Sem Nala". Wastewater from the nala s then disposed of on agricultural lands or in a nearby irrigation canal.

Phase I was designed to cater for a population of about 100,000. The main disposal works constructed under this phase have a capacity to pump 5,450 cu.m/day (1.2 Mg/day) of effluent. They include: (a) one screen chamber; (b) two collecting tanks with 20 minutes retaining period; (c) pumping machinery; and (d) two oxidation ponds designed for a detention capacity of 7 days.

Phase II and III were planned to supplement the original facilities and solve the problem of low-lying areas which could not be connected by gravity to the main network. Under these projects, small disposal works equipped with intermediate pumping stations were built in order to receive wastewater from low-lying areas. These disposal works are connected through rising mains to the sewerage network or to the nearby Rice Canal. discharge of untreated effluent into the Rice Canal creates serious pollution problems in the city and the nearby villages found along the Canal. A fourth phase of the Larkano Urban Drainage Scheme was planned for a target population of 197,000 but eh scheme neer completed due to lack of funds.

All in all, the present capacity of the main disposal works in the city is about 11,000 cu.m/day (2.4 Mg/day). It is important to note that the constructed oxidation onds had no design provision for sludge pumps enabling periodical cleaning and disposal of oxidized sludge settling at the bottom of the ponds.

Storm Water Drainage

There is no separate storm water drainage system in Larkano, except temporary mobile pumping units which are used in emergencies and are quite insufficient to meet the present needs. Open sewers or drains have been designed to transport rain water too, but as they are often clogged or under-designed, their proper operation is severly hindered during rain.

Moreover, as the topography of the city is flat and the roads have no proper cambering and longitudinal slopes, rain water mixed with wastewater over-floods the sewers during the rainy periods and inundates streets. This water stagnates in low-lying areas and creates great public health hazards.

Refuse Collection and Disposal

The Municipal Committee of Larkano (LMC) is charged with the collection of refuse and its disposal. There is no organised refuse collection from the houses which usually dump their garbage on the streets from where it is occasionally collected. Some 13 animal carts and 400 hand-barrows are used to collect refuse from individual houses, lanes and by-lanes and from the berms asided open drains. Available vehicles fall short of the required number to meet the needs of the city. This shortage creates severe problems with refuse being scattered all over Larkano. Congested residential areas, commercial streets and markets are presumably more adversely affected by the presence of refuse and leakages from it on the streets.

The refuse collected by barrows and animal carts is disposed of in several tipping points throughout city from where it is collected by three tractor-trailers and disposed off in 15 dump-sites located on some low-lying areas, without any sanitary measures. Little information is available on collected solid waste volume and its characteristics. However, it is estimated taht about 100 tonnes of refuse are generated daily, consisting primarily of vegetables and organic material (approximately 80% of the refuse weight).

The refuse weight actually collected is not known either, but it is estimated to be about 45 tonnes per day. The uncollected refuse is dispersed in streets, open drains and open spaces, creating serious hygienic problems (breeding of disease vectors -- flies and rats -- bad smell, pollution of the ground water horizon). The deposition of solid wastes in the open drains is also the cause of their clogging, leading to the overflowing of wastewater into the streets.

LMC employs about 390 workers fro the refuse collection. Most of them are sweepers charged with the collection of the refuse from streets and the houses, using animal carts and barrows; they also clean the wastewater drains. Refuse collection in Larkano is free of charge.