Saaf Pani project: Two-year target set for supplying potable water to villages: CM

Sharif says allocation of development funds for southern districts is 10 percent higher than other districts

LAHORE: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said on Wednesday that safe drinking water was a basic need. He said the Saaf Pani Project had been started to ensure availability of potable water for all citizens. He said the project was of vital importance for public health.  It would help lower the incidence of water-borne diseases and enable the establishment of a healthy society.

He expressed these views in a meeting with Pakistan Muslim league-Nawaz lawmakers from across the province.

The chief minister said that billions of rupees was being spent on the project. He said there would be a third-party audit of funds spent on the project.

He said a two-year target had been set for supplying potable water in all villages in the province. Initially, he said, villages in southern districts would be covered under the project. Work had already been started in this regard, he said.

The chief minister said that the provincial government was implementing a policy of balanced development of urban and rural areas. He said that under the policy share of southern districts in development funds had been set at 10 percent higher than other districts.

Sharif said that the filtration plants installed under the Saaf Pani Project would run on solar power. This would ensure uninterrupted supply of potable water, he added. He said the project would be completed in several phases and no effort would be spared for timely completion of project-related work.

He said all-out efforts were being taken to ensure transparency in use of funds and that quality standards were met in all public welfare projects underway in the province.

Separately, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif telephoned former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani and congratulated him on the safe return of his son Ali Haider Gillani on Wednesday.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 12^th, 2016.