WASA to add 100 cusecs water to Lahore supply

MD says agency is negotiating with irrigation dept to cater to water need of city

LAHORE: The underground water level in provincial capital is reducing one meter annually. Therefore, citizens should use water wisely to avoid a water crisis, said Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) Deputy Managing Director Muhammad Naveed Mazhar.

He was speaking to journalists at the Lahore Expo Centre after inaugurating a two-day 3rd Pak and Water Energy Expo on Wednesday. Punjab University Vice Chancellor Dr Niaz Ahmad Akhtar and Gomal University Vice Chancellor Dr Muhammad Serwer also visited the event.

He said that the agency is negotiating with the provincial irrigation department to acquire 100 cusecs water from the Bambawali-Ravi-Bedian (BRB) Canal to cater to the swelling water needs of the provincial capital. The agency has already prepared PC-1 to acquire 100 cusecs water from Punjab irrigation department, which will be injected in water distribution system and this quantity would touch 1,000 cusecs by 2035, he maintained,

He highlighted that the agency, in collaboration with different stakeholders, is also working to develop alternate water source and taking initiatives to arrest the declining trend of the underground water level. The agency has already started taking action against auto service stations and asked residential consumers to stop using clean water for gardening.

Responding to a question, Mazhar disclosed that the WASA has around 750,000 water consumers. Right now, the agency has only 40,000 metered water connections but to promote wise use of water new water meters are being procured. The agency is in a process of floating international tenders but it will take some since no local water manufacturing facility is available in Pakistan, he said.

Various internal agencies have already warned that Pakistan could ‘run dry' by 2025 as the country's water shortage is touching alarming level. According to a recent study conducted by the International Monetary Fund, Pakistan ranks at third place in the world among countries facing acute water shortage.