WASA gets Rs2b grant from JICA for water scheme

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has approved a grant of Rs2 billion to help increase the daily supply of water from Rawal Dam to Rawalpindi city through the upgradation of the water supply system.

With the completion of the project, the supply of water from Rawal Dam to Rawalpindi will increase to 36 million gallons per day from the current 26 million gallons per day. The water supplied to the city from 480 tube-wells of the Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA), Rawal Dam and Khanpur Dam cannot meet the increasing water requirement of the garrison city, especially in the summer.

According to the WASA, the underground cement pipelines carrying water from Rawal Dam to the Rawalpindi city were in a dilapidated condition with leakages at several places. With the help of the JICA, a steel casing will be installed around the pipeline to stop the leakage.

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According to sources, the Punjab government has already approved the project. Work on the project will formally start after the final approval from the Economic Affairs Division.

The WASA, which is currently finding it difficult to run its tube wells due to increasing electricity costs and declining underground water levels, will have to reduce reliance on tube wells after the completion of this project. The project will help the WASA save the sum spent on the maintenance of tube wells.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 22^nd, 2021.