Chahan Dam inches a step closer to reality

After much dilly-dallying, the Punjab government has sought to set up a “project management unit” to start work on Chahar Dam to supply six million of daily water to six densely populated union councils (UCs) falling within the jurisdiction of the Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB).

The Planning and Development (P&D) Department has already approved the revised project concept (PC-1) of the water supply project with a projected additional cost of over Rs8 billion. Owing to the rising cost of construction material, the cost may go up to Rs10 billion. With the completion of the project, six million gallons of water per day will be available to the six densely populated union councils of the RCB.

The Punjab government approved the project worth Rs5.3 billion to bring six MGD water from Chahan Dam in Dec 2018. The dam near Chakri is being constructed on River Sill Kus. It is located 22 kilometres from the garrison city.

Sources said that the process has also been started to hire a consultant while the project design has already been altered. Now, the process of awarding the contract will be started, sources said. According to sources, work on the water supply project is likely to start in September 2022 and will be completed in two years.

The design of the dam has been altered to ensure full pressure water supply to the targeted areas. Under the new design, the route of distribution lines has been changed to supply water at full pressure and prevent water theft.

A project director of the project has been appointed and a grant of Rs800 million has initially been released.

Under the new design, the site of the pumping station has been changed and brought closer to the dam while the route of water pipelines from the pumping station and filtration plants has also been altered to prevent water theft along the way. Under the new design, water supply lines will pass along the main road so that the water theft could be identified.

The pipelines will supply water from underground and overhead tanks to union councils Lakhan, Girja-I, Girja-II, Chak Jalaluddin, Mohri Ghazni and Dhamyal.

The six densely populated union councils face severe water shortages. After the completion of work on the project, the availability of six million gallons of water per day to these six settlements will solve the chronic issue permanently.

According to the sources, the water daily supply from the Chahan Dam will be further enhanced by expanding the network.

Sources said that the cost of construction material has increased in the market and the cost of the project may go up to Rs10 billion. They said that under the new design, the project will be technically more stable and efficient and water will reach its destination with full pressure.

WASA Deputy Managing Director Saleem Ashraf said that efforts were being made to hire a consultant, establish the project management unit and acquire land at the earliest to complete work on the project within the stipulated time and provide water to the intended population. The said union councils have been included in the WASA jurisdiction but they lack a regular water supply system.

The six densely populated union councils face severe water shortages. After the completion of work on the project, the availability of six million gallons of water per day to these six settlements will solve the chronic issue permanently.

According to the sources, the water daily supply from the Chahan Dam will be further enhanced by expanding the network.

The six densely populated union councils falling in the Rawalpindi Cantonment Board have been facing irregular water supply and the residents have been facing severe water shortages.

According to sources, the availability of six million gallons of water per day in the presence of a partial water supply system already in place in these six settlements will solve the water problem in these areas permanently.

According to sources, with the new design, where the project has been made technically more stable and efficient, water will now be able to reach its destination with significant pressure.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 22^nd, 2022.