Provincial Polio Emergency Center Sindh requested Pakistan National Polio Plus Committee to support social mobilization interventions in polio high risk areas of Karachi as polio plus activities. In view of the dire need of safe drinking water especially in the areas where possibilities of polio virus exist due to improper sanitation and non-availability of potable water, it was suggested to install Solar Water Filtration plants to increase access to safe drinking water, decrease water borne diseases and increase creditability of polio partners in high refusal areas. Rotary in collaboration with CocaCola Pakistan and UNDP initiated a proposal for installation of Solar Water Filtration Plants in six polio high risk areas of Karachi and one in Peshawar.

Ittehad Town Baldia Karachi is one of the high risk union council and termed as polio reservoir in Karachi. The population of the area is predominant by Pashtun speaking population and in view of high priority union council; first Solar Water Filtration Plant was installed at UC 2 Ittehad Town. The plant will cater 35,000 population of the catchment area.

An inauguration ceremony of Solar Water Filtration Plant held today ie; 19 November 2016 at UC2 Ittehad Town. The Plant was jointly inaugurated by Honorable Deputy Mayor Karachi Arshad Vohra and National Chair Aziz Memon.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by local stake holders, WHO,UNICEF, EOC representatives, Assistant Commissioner Ghulam Muhammad and Rotary was represented by DGE Ovais Kohari, Rotractors of Rotary Club Karachi East, Shaukat Ali Project Coordinator, Sadia Shakeel Coordinator, Qaiser Shahzad Coordinator and Asher Ali, Project Manager PNPPC.

A short briefing was given by Tariq Jamsheed, Engineer of the Solar Plant. He elaborated the mechanism of the plant. Arshad Vohra, Deputy Mayor Karachi started the solar by pushing the button plant and open the water taps to functionalize the system and drink the water to ensure quality.

The Deputy Mayor was also briefed about the sustainability of the project. It was told by Asher Ali, Project Manager PNPPC that a number of community meetings were carried out before launching the project for optimal utilization of filtered water and maintenance of the plant. The Deputy Mayor appreciated the efforts of Rotary and requested National Chair to continue his support for betterment of society. After Inauguration a symbolic Key of the plant presented to the local community leader Molana Haroon Rasheed Adil. He will be responsible for operationalization of the plant. Prayers were also offered for betterment of the communities residing in the area.