Work on three dams construction stopped

[Salman]

RAWALPINDI - Construction work on three dams in Rawalpindi has been stopped due to the indifference of the Punjab government and financial hurdles.

Sources said the dream of provision of 37 million gallons of water to the city through construction of the dams could not be realised as yet. This will lead to scarcity of water resource in the twin cities. The local population cannot rely on the underground storage of water, as it is also getting scarce.

According to details, the project for building three dams, namely Charah Dam, Chahan Dam, and Darocha Dam was approved but due to non-availability of funds, the work on these projects has been stopped.

Sources said Punjab government and Capital Development Authority were to build Charah Dam bearing a cost of Rs 5300 million. After construction, the dam will have supplied 700 million gallons of water to Rawalpindi and Islamabad each, however, the dam could not be built, as the site for its construction could not be acquired.

Chahan dam was to be built on an area of 2500 kanals with the cost of Rs 787 million and it was to water a 12000 acre land. Only Rs 16 million were released out of Rs 100 million allocated for the project in the current financial year. Construction of the dam was started in June 2012 but is not going on presently.

Similarly Darocha dam was to enable a supply of 25 million gallon of water but till now location for making the dam is controversial.

Meanwhile, residents of Shah Khalid Colony are facing the severest water crunch amid their ever-deepening despair for seeing no signs of abatement in the water crisis.

Tube well was installed in the street No 1 of this colony on our persistent demand but it is not functioning regularly and we are still left at the point from where we have started our struggle towards seeking approval for tube well, said a group of residents.

Tube well stops working due to faulty motor and pump but no one from the concerned department is paying any heed towards arranging repair work or removal of defect, complained Haji Ahmad, a teacher.

We have to bring water for drinking purpose from far flung area and this way we have to suffer in terms of time and money, said Noor Muhammad, a shop keeper. We are bearing the major brunt of this crisis like situation as water scarcity has reached it peak in our streets, said inmates of street No 15 and 15-A.

The residents demanded immediate measures for arranging repairs of the defect in tube well machinery otherwise they will hold demonstrations.

Meanwhile, supply of water from Sangjani water filtration plant to the twin cities has resumed as the Capital Development Authority (CDA) paid its dues of the electricity bill worth Rs13.68 million.

The CDA spokesman told INP that the civic authority paid its due of the electricity bill of the plant, therefore IESCO resumed the electricity supply for the time being. Now water supply of Rawalpindi and Islamabad has been restored, he said, adding though the electricity bill arrears amount Rs180 million and Rs5 million are still due on Rawalpindi Cantonment Board and WASA respectively.

The spokesman further said that if the Cantt Board and WASA paid the due money to the CDA, the civic authority would not only be able to pay the electricity bill arrears but could also complete the renovation of the plant.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Islamabad Electricity Supply Company (IESCO) had disconnected the electricity connection of the water treatment plant on non-payment of bill arrears, causing the suspension of water supply of CDA, Cantonment Board and WASA.

According to sources, water is supplied to Cantt Board and CDA Islamabad from the plant through Khanpur Dam water supply system. A huge money is due on the filtration plant as electricity bill arrears, the source informed, adding that Cantonment Board Rawalpindi had paid Rs15 million to IESCO in this connection, and Rs180 million are still due on it.