Ghazi-Barotha scheme to end water shortage
The citizens of the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi will not face water shortage for a century after the completion of the Ghazi Barotha Water Supply Scheme, said Rawalpindi Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) Managing Director (MD) Raja Shaukat.
The project envisages bringing water from Indus River to the federal capital and the garrison city via 45-kilometre-long, 80-inch-wide water pipeline from the Tarbela Dam at Ghazi Barotha to a water treatment plant at Sangjiani for onward distribution.
Shaukat said that the water procured from Ghazi Barotha scheme would be distributed between the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and WASA. He added that CDA would get 100 million gallons daily (MGD) water while WASA and Cantonment Boards (CBs) would get 50 MGD each. The quantity would fulfil the water deficiency in the twin cities for a century.
The official said that the water level in Khanpur Dam was 1,984 feet. He added that the storage capacity of the Rawal Dam has reduced to 37,000 acre-feet from 47,000 acre-feet due to silting.
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Further, MD said that the government had approved the installation of three sewerage treatment plants at catchment areas of Rawal Lake. The plants would be installed at Shahdra, Diplomatic Enclave, and Bhara Kahu while the Punjab government would bear the cost of the project.
Mehmood told that WASA only received 10 MGD from the Rawal Dam, adding the construction of the Daducha Dam would increase this limit to 23 MGD.
He added that the process of land acquisition for the Daducha Dam has been initiated and it would be built by Small Dams Organisation (SDO).
WASA MD said that currently, only Islamabad was being supplied water from the Simli Dam.
Moreover, the official informed the Punjab government has released Rs250 million of Rs5.5 billion for the water supply line from the Chuhan Dam. He was confident that they would be able to get at least Rs1 billion released for the project during the next visit of Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar to Rawalpindi. These funds would be utilised for land acquisition, water filtration plant, and for laying water supply network.
Published in The Express Tribune, Septe0mber 13th, 2020.