Lahore: CDA shelves plan to install 20 more filtration plants

[Naveed Yaseen]

* Authority decides not to execute project in current financial year due to shortage of funds
* Existing 30 plants in different sectors not being maintained

By Fazal Sher

ISLAMABAD: Capital Development Authority (CDA) has shelved its plan to install 20 more clean drinking water filtration plants in different parts of the metropolis due to shortage of funds.

A year ago, the CDA Water Supply Directorate had prepared a plan to set up 20 more filtration plants and sent it to the CDA Finance Department for funds approval. The CDA highups has decided not to execute this project in the current financial year due to shortage of funds, which might increase the miseries of citizens, a senior official of CDA told Daily Times on Wednesday.

He said earlier CDA had installed 30 water filtration plants in two different phases and the Water Supply Directorate had planned to launch the third phase in current financial year.

In the first and second phases, CDA installed 30 water filtration plants at the cost of Rs 18 million, he said, adding, 19 plants had been installed in sectors G-6/2, G-7/4, G8/1, G-9/2, G-9/3, G-11/2, G-10/3, G-6/1-2, G-6/1, G-7/3-1, G-7, G-8/2, G-11/3, G-10 and G-6.

He said so far CDA had installed only one plant in H series at H-9. The CDA has installed seven filtration plants in I-8/3, I-10, I-10/4, I-9/1 and two in I-10/2 and I-11/4, he said, adding that three filtration plants had been installed in F-6/1, F-10/1 and F-5.

The official said these filtration plants were functioning for 15 hours daily with intervals from 3:00am to 10:00 am and 5:30pm to 1:00am. He said the authority had failed to make effective arrangements for maintenance and cleanliness of these plants.

He said in the absence of skilled staff the authority’s water supply directorate was planning to outsource the operation, cleanliness and maintenance of the water filtration plants. He said if the authority did not outsource the job, a number of exiting of filtration plats would stop functioning.

The official said due to lack of maintenance most of water filtration plants in the federal capital were in very poor condition. Many of them have broken down and the taps have started leakage, due to which people are facing enormous problems in getting drinking water, he added.

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