Mega water project still stuck in red tape

Ghazi Barotha water project's cost continues to balloon due to delays and shortage of funds

RAWALPINDI:

The Ghazi Barotha Water Project, initially planned as the largest and most efficient solution to meet the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad's water needs for the next 100 years, has turned into a white elephant due to persistent obstacles, financial constraints and bureaucratic delays. Once envisioned as a game-changing initiative, the project is now being labelled as "impossible to complete."

Originally conceived in 2004 during the tenure of ex-Punjab's former chief minister Pervez Elahi and ex-president Pervez Musharraf, the project's estimated cost at the time was only Rs35 billion.

However, due to inflation, rising costs of construction materials like cement and steel, and increased labour expenses, the budget has skyrocketed to Rs170 billion.

The project was designed in three phases, each aimed at supplying 200 million gallons of water per day to Rawalpindi and Islamabad, making a total of 600 million gallons daily.

Under the plan, an 80-inch diameter pipeline was to be laid over 60 kilometres from Ghazi Barotha to Sangjani and Khanpur Dam, along with the installation of heavy-duty water pumps.

The World Bank initially approved a grant of Rs500 million for the project, but these funds were diverted to another project in Karachi. Since then, successive governments have used delaying tactics, leaving the project stuck in bureaucratic red tape for 21 years.

Had the project been completed, Rawalpindi and Islamabad would have had more than enough water from Rawal Dam, Simly Dam, Khanpur Dam, and Ghazi Barotha, ensuring round-the-clock supply.

One of the biggest advantages would have been the decommissioning of 1,200 tube wells operated by the Capital Development Authority (CDA), Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA), and Cantonment Boards, leading to massive savings in electricity costs worth millions of rupees every month.

The project was proposed to be jointly funded, with the Punjab government covering 25pc of the cost, while WASA had also agreed to contribute another 25pc.