Delay in test halts clean water programme

Project was initiated in 2014 to involve community in ensuring civic facility

FAISALABAD: The Changa Pani Programme (CPP) for clean water supply is facing further delays as the contractor has failed to conduct the mandatory hydraulic test of supply lines for the project even after the lapse of eight months and the test is mandatory to complete the project.

The government of Punjab had taken an integrated approach for the uninterrupted provision of water supply through metering and community participation, named Changa Pani Programme (CPP), in 2014.

In this connection, the Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) had joined hands with the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) and Anjuman Samaji Behbood (ASB) for the planning, designing and implementation of the project in the city to demonstrate that the community can finance, manage and build internal development as long as they are encouraged and provided technical support.

Initially, the model was conceived by following the philosophy of Dr Akhtar Hameed Khan of Orange Pilot Project Karachi.

Water sharing between Afghanistan and Pakistan

The CPP facilitates government agencies for planning, designing and implementation of water supply and sanitation schemes on component sharing model of public-private partnership.

In 2014, the government of Punjab allocated Rs140 million and initially disbursed the funds to implement the project.

The project was to be completed in 2015. WASA issued a work order to lay the main rising water supply pipeline from Rakh Branch Canal to the Shamsabad locality, while the ASB surveyed households.

Meanwhile, the WASA administration diverted Rs20 million from the original project of the CPP to other heads, i.e. paying work charge and daily wage employees’ salaries and liabilities of contractors. The ASB reportedly sent a letter to the WASA administration that the step was in violation of the laid down procedure and contract conditions.

CETP remains a distant dream for Karachi

The WASA construction director had also reported to the higher authorities that the contractor is avoiding the hydraulic test of supply lines laid by him at the pressure level which was required by the ASB.

Despite the passage of eight months, the contractor has not conducted the test. Resultantly, the community empowerment project has been abandoned, causing wastage of public money.

WASA Deputy Director Ghafar Naveed said that although the former administration had utilised the original funds allocated for the CPP to pay the salaries of work charge employees, Managing Director Chaudhry Faqir Mohammad had arranged and spent the required funds while completing the agency’s share of the project.

Moreover, the remaining work of conducting a household survey is to be done by the ASB.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 11^th, 2020.