Dunga Bunga’s ‘endless nightmare’

Project remains incomplete even though contractor was fully paid in 2016

BAHAWALNAGAR:

The Dunga Bunga water supply project remains unfinished, with some residents terming it an "endless nightmare." Though the project has not been finished for seven years, the contractor has already received full payment and abandoned the megaproject, allegedly in connivance with the Public Health Department.

Residents of the Dunga Bunga area vehemently oppose the completion of the subpar water supply project.

MNA Alam Dad Laleka initiated the project in 2016, with Rs160 million earmarked to complete it in one year. However, the megaproject is unfinished and in disrepair, drawing the ire of locals.

Due to the use of subpar construction materials, water supply pipes frequently failed and leaks became a persistent problem.

Given that supply lines started to leak as soon as they were turned on, the MC has severed the connection to the new water supply line, obligating the Public Health Department to perform necessary repairs.

Locals still have to walk long distances to fetch water and nothing has changed in that regard as of yet.

Residents of Dunga Bunga informed The Express Tribune that they want an investigation into the water supply scheme's faulty pipes and subpar machinery that burst shortly after the water was supplied.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, They claimed that city residents are spending immense time and money to fetch water from distant areas in motorcycles and vehicles, paying between Rs1,000 and Rs1,500 for the essential resource.

They further said that neither the administration nor the anti-corruption division paid attention to the faulty water supply scheme.

They recalled that in 2016, Mian Alam Dad Laleka announced the greatest budget ever for water delivery with a one-year completion deadline. But after seven years, the residents of Dunga still lack access to the blessing of water.

According to complaints from citizens, the Public Health Department reportedly misled the contractor and received its payment before the job was finished.

It is extremely important to look into the fact that Nadeem Gujjar Exin and Rana Dilawar SDO made money off the doomed project, locals stated.

Along with this, residents asserted that the pipeline was constructed using materials of a lower quality than what was specified in the tender, which caused some of the pipeline's seams to burst while it was in use.

CEO-MC Dunga Bunga Chowdhury Nauman Sarwar, who was contacted regarding the issue, said that the Public Health Department's water supply plan has been under development since 2016 and is currently nearing completion.

In order to run the new line, public health authorities disconnected the old Dunga Bunga water supply pipeline last week. To activate the new line, they requested two more days from the municipal committee.

The committee promised residents that water will be accessible within two days, however the new could not be activated by the public health authority until a week had passed.

“Every time the motors are used, a new line leaks from someplace,” Sarwar said. “We are now renovating the old pipeline since we have no other option except to supply water from a new line.”

Published in The Express Tribune, August 21^st, 2023.