Rawalpindi: CM orders release of Rs 83m to replace rusty pipelines

[Naveed Yaseen]

* Old water supply lines to be replaced in 46 UCs
* WASA to complete replacement work by end of June 2009

By Aamir Yasin

RAWALPINDI: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Tuesday directed the authorities concerned to release Rs 83 million to the Rawalpindi Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) to replace the old and rusty water supply pipelines in 46 union councils in the city.

Sources told Daily Times that the amount was the remaining part of Rs 311 million worth of Gastro Project of the WASA, which were frozen due to general elections last year.

They said that the chief minister ordered the release of funds after he was approached by five civic agencies of the province to release the funds for the ongoing development projects.

The funds, the sources said, would be transferred to the accounts of the WASA by the next week and that the agency would soon start the remaining work on replacement of old water supply pipelines. Around 70 percent of the work in the inner city had been completed, the sources said, adding that the remaining work was likely to be completed by the end of June 2009.

They said that the replacement of 112 km of water supply lines had already been carried out in the inner city from where the agency received daily complaints of water contamination.

By laying 20 km new water pipelines in the entire city, the residents would receive a 100 percent pure supply of water, the sources said, adding that the work on the project was going on in Satellite Town, Khayaban-e-Sir Syed, Chah Sultan, Sadiqabad, Shamsabad, Dhoke Kala Khan and the adjacent areas.

The sources said that high-density polyethylene (HDP) pipes were being used, as they were safer and prevented the water from being polluted.

They said that the WASA had chalked out a comprehensive plan to spend the amount that would be released on the orders of the chief minister.

According to the plan, the WASA will construct overhead water tank in Union Council No 4 (Dhoke Mangtal) with a capacity of 100,000 gallons of water. The adjoining union councils Hazara Colony, Dhoke Hassu and adjacent colonies would be provided clean drinking water facilities round the clock through the overhead water tank. They said that the WASA was also planning to purchase two sucking machines and two jetting machines to clean the sewerage lines in narrow streets of the city.

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