Port Fountain is the only fountain in the world to be located in the open sea. The KPT officials briefed this during a visit to KPT Water Fountain to a group of journalist here on Wednesday.
It is in the middle of Oyster Rocks with one of the most turbulent monsoon waters. Hence it could not be operated during the monsoon period, as access to it becomes impossible due to the rough sea. Even now at the fag end of the monsoon, access is very difficult and dangerous. As intimated earlier, this fountain would now be operational again from 1st September 2006, every day from 6 pm to 12 pm except Mondays & Tuesdays when the fountain would be closed for standard maintenance purposes.
The concept of the fountain was conceived in March 2004 with bids invited for its construction in October 2004. The contract for construction was ultimately awarded to Invent Water Treatment of UK in March 2005. The project started on March 14, 2005 and was completed on January 15, 2006. The fountain was inaugurated on the 15th of January by President of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf who was accompanied by first lady Begum Sehba Musharraf.
The fountain is located near the Oyster Rocks, 1.3 Kilometres from the Clifton Beach. It is built over a 135 square metres platform erected on sixteen piles. Two diesel driven, 1,000 cubic meters per hour pumps, suck the water from an average depth of five meters and throws it at a spectacular speed of 70 meters per second to a maximum height of 620 feet. The radius of the spread is about 500 feet and the water that the fountain throws is guaranteed to be clean. The fountain is illuminated by 24 floodlights of 400 watts each.
The system is powered by a 35 kilowatts generator. This fountain puts Pakistan on the world map of progressive nations that can boast of such an engineering feat.
The King Fahad Fountain in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is presently the highest water jet with a height of over 800 feet followed by Port Fountain in Karachi, Pakistan, Fountain Hills in Arizona, USA and Jet d Eau in Geneva, Switzerland. The fountain is indeed a landmark achievement for KPT as it is the only fountain in the world, which is in the open sea - all other fountains are in protected waters.
Tourism is a very large foreign exchange earning industry, which if properly developed, can give substantial returns. Unless there are decent recreational and sports facilities of international standards, we will not be able to attract a large number of tourists who prefer other countries due to lack of these facilities in Pakistan.
After a very long time, Karachi has been given the importance it has long deserved.
Modern water sports and recreational facilities will be developed around the Port Fountain providing the public the much-needed recreational spots in the city. This would be in line with other recreational and sports facilities being developed at Malam Jabba for skiing, chair lifts at Ayubia and similar other project in the country. People can now also enjoy boat rides to the Port Fountain which will add a new dimension to the city of Karachi, by providing a healthy outdoor recreational activity to citizens.