The Punjab government has expedited the process of land acquisition to further speed up work on the Chahar Dam project with the help of the Asian Development Bank.
The Punjab government has provided Rs650 million for land acquisition, while the project cost 117 million US dollars will be provided by the Asian Development Bank.
Work on the project has been started under a fast-track policy and work on the project will be started by the end of the current year.
With the approval of a grant of 117 million dollars from the International Development Bank, 12 million gallons of water per day will be available from Chahan Dam, which will be supplied to six densely populated union councils — Lakhan, Girja-1, Girja-2, Chak Jalaldin, Mohri Ghazan and Dhamyal.
Under the revised project, a new line will be laid for the supply of an additional five million gallons of water per day from the Rawal Dam Treatment Plant to Rawalpindi. After which the daily supply of water from Rawal Dam to Rawalpindi city will increase to 28 million gallons and WASA will no longer need to operate its 80 to 90 tube wells. This will help save electricity cost.
In order to provide a round-the-clock water supply to the Khayaban-e-Sir Syed area a water loop will be constructed and water coming from the Rawal Dam and tube wells will be diverted to these areas.
According to WASA sources, the Punjab government has issued a formal guideline to start work on Chahan Dam without delay.
Instructions have also been issued to the finance department to start the land acquisition process soon.
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.
The design of the dam has been altered to ensure a 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.
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 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.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 11th, 2023.
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