Islamabad, Rawalpindi face 13mgd shortage

Major water scheme delayed by 15 years

RAWALPINDI:

Despite the supply of water through Khanpur Dam, Rawal Dam, and tube wells, the twin cities are facing a daily shortage of 13 million gallons in comparison to demand. The rapidly depleting groundwater levels have already signalled a severe water crisis in the months of June-July.

On the other hand, the scheme to transport 200 million gallons of water daily from Ghazi Barotha to Rawalpindi-Islamabad is facing delay for the past 15 years. The project is supposed to supply water to the twin cities for the next hundred years. In the second phase, it was supposed to supply an additional 300 million gallons of water per day to the twin cities and other tehsils across the district. However, progress in the last 15 years on this important project did not go beyond meetings, briefings and presentations. This government also showed keen interest in the project when it came to power but no progress was made.

At present, the Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) ensures a daily supply of 51 million gallons of water to Rawalpindi from Khanpur Dam, Rawal Dam, and 400 tube wells. But the demand for this city with a population of 1.6 million is 64 million gallons of water daily. Owing to this, the requirement of some 13 million gallons is met by boreholes and water tankers. The daily requirement of water per person has been estimated at 40 gallons for the city which is much less than the daily requirement by a human.

Talking about the increase in demand for water amid sweltering weather, WASA Managing Director (MD) Raja Shaukat Mahmood said with Rawalpindi and Islamabad’s growing population, the difference between demand and supply is widening rapidly.

He said the only solution to solve the problem permanently and for the twin cities to have ample water was to bring 200 million gallons of water per day in the first phase from the Ghazi Bharuta project. Out of this, 100 million gallons per day can be given to Islamabad and 100 million gallons to Rawalpindi, he suggested.

He said all paperwork in this regard has been done and only project approval was required. He assured the federal government would soon start the project after which water supply to the twin cities would improve.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 4^th, 2021.