The Planning and Development Department (P&DD) Punjab has approved funds worth Rs48 million to hire consultancy services for the feasibility study of shifting sewage from the City and Cantt areas of Rawalpindi to the Soan River through a large trunk sewerage system. The objective is to resolve the long-standing problem of Nullah Leh in three phases.
The trunk sewerage system will be built on both sides of the Nullah Lei in the first phase, the canal will be paved from the middle to accommodate the rainwater in the second phase, while roads will be constructed on both sides of Nullah Leh in the third phase.
The Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) has been appointed as the executing agency to hire the services of a consultant for a comprehensive feasibility study to construct a large sewage trunk on both sides of Nullah Leh. The cost of the project has been approved under Project Concept-2 (PC-2) and it will be included in the future annual development program (ADP).
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The consultant will be assigned to prepare Project Concept -1 (PC-1) so that under the second phase, the middle part of the drain can be paved and the clean rainwater be passed from there and thrown into Swan River.
Under the first phase, trunk sewerage will be constructed on both sides of Nullah Lei along the 16km long route from New Katarian Bridge to Swan River, for which funds will be released after the feasibility study is completed.
According to the RDA sources, Nullah Lei will be covered with sewer trunks construction in the first phase, the middle part of Nullah Lei will be paved and rainwater will flow from there in the second phase and the third phase, roads will be constructed on both sides of Nullah Leh. The project will ease the woes of Rawalpindi city and Cantt motorists through an alternative route of traffic to Islamabad.
The Nullah Leh’s open sewage has been the cause of heavy losses of life and property during floods in monsoon. The need to solve the long-standing problem was strongly felt in 2006-7 when 80 human lives were lost and financial losses of billions of rupees during a historic flood in 2001-2.
The project to construct the Expressway with a secure sewerage system began in 2006-7, however, the 2008 governments in the federal and Punjab terminated the project.
Despite all efforts and announcements, the work on the Nullah Lei project could not be started due to its high cost, but now the caretaker Punjab government decided to start the Nullah Lei project in three phases.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 21st 2024.
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