Water projects presented to Turkish consultants

Development comes as Wasa, consultant firm hold discussion

RAWALPINDI:

The proposals for seeking grants in respect of various water projects, including the mega water supply project to Rawalpindi and Islamabad from Tarbela, eliminating the underground leakage in Rawalpindi city and transfer of water supply system to metering, have been presented to a Turkish consultant group.

The development came in the wake of a meeting between members of the consultancy group with Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) Managing Director Muhammad Tanveer and Deputy Managing Director Salim Ashraf on Thursday. During the meeting, the consultant group advised Wasa to present proposals for water development projects to seek grants from the Turkish government.

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At this, Wasa officials informed the members of the Turkish consultants group that a project plan for a daily supply of 600 million gallons of water for the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad through a 60-kilometre-long pipeline from Tarbela Dam in two phases has been jointly prepared by Wasa and Capital Development Authority (CDA), for which a grant of Rs145 billion is needed.

“If this grant is obtained from the Turkish government, the long-term water supply project in the twin cities can be completed,” the Wasa officials were quoted as saying. The Turkish consultant group was also informed that there is a massive leakage of water from the old underground network of water supply in Rawalpindi city, which is non-revenue water.

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“It is possible to save water by eliminating underground leaks for Rs100 million,” the Wasa officials said. Meanwhile, there are 140,000 water supply connections in the Wasacontrolled area in the garrison city and it has become inevitable to transfer them to the metering system so that the water utility charges can be accurately recovered. “For this project, Rs140 million will be needed.” Wasa MD Muhammad Tanveer told the Turkish consultants group that Wasa and CDA were not ready to take loans for these projects but could accept grants for public welfare.