CDA budget 2009-10: No allocation for Ghazi Brotha, water lines replacement

[Naveed Yaseen]

* Tube-wells designed to pump 400 to 500 gallons of water per minute are pumping just 40 to 50 gallons per minute because the water table has receded by about 70 feet

By Fazal Sher

ISLAMABAD: The current water crisis in the capital city is bound to worsen in the coming days, as the Capital Development Authority (CDA has made no allocation in the budget 2009-10 for the ambitious Ghazi Brotha Water Supply Project and replacement of the rusty water lines to ensure an uninterrupted supply of water to the capital all the year round.

A mole in the authority told Daily Times on Monday that according to the proposals prepared by the Finance Wing for the budget 2009-10, only a small amount of funds would be allocated for small water related projects like the purchase of water bowsers, however, bigger allocations would be go to the development of new sectors and completing the ongoing projects.

According to the official, the sole reason for not launching the Ghazi Brotha Water Supply Project and replacing the old water lines with new ones was the financial crunch. He said the authority had recently arranged an auction of residential and commercial plots to improve its financial position, but it brought a little money to its coffers, as few people showed interest in the auction.

The mole said that the current water crisis in the capital would aggravate, as the development of new sectors would lead to an increase in water consumption.

He said the water supply directorate of the authority had informed the top bosses about the water supply situation in the capital and suggested a handsome allocation for upgradation of water supply system, but it cut no ice with them.

The official said that on the one hand a big quantity of water went down the drain due to cracks in the undergrounds water lines, on the other the water table was depleting at an alarming rate.

He said the ongoing water crisis had set the alarm bells ringing but the CDA bosses had turned a deaf ear to it. He said the launching of Ghazi Brotha Water Supply Project and replacement of the rusty water lines should have been the top priority of the authority rather than developing the new sectors.

He said the tube-wells designed to produce 400 to 500 gallons of water per minute were producing just 40 to 50 gallons per minute because the water table had receded by all most 70 feet.

The official said that the main reason for the depleting water table was massive dependence on ground water and negligible recharging of water table because of less percolation of rainwater into the soil.

He said majority of water lines in the city, especially in the less-developed sectors like 1-9,1-8, I-10 and I-11 were decades-old causing wastage of around 40 percent of the total water supplied to the city. He suggested immediate replacement of these water lines with new ones to save at least 40 percent of the water going to waste.

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