Cabinet division approves Rs10b

ISLAMABAD: The Cabinet Division has formally approved Rs10 billion for the rehabilitation and upgradation of Islamabad’s water supply and wastewater network project.

The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has been asked to start work on the first phase of the project. The decision was taken in a meeting chaired by Secretary Cabinet Division Abdur Rauf Chaudhry and was attended by the secretary planning and development, secretary economic affairs division, secretary finance, additional secretary cabinet, Chairman CDA Imtiaz Inayat Elahi and DG Water Management Sanaullah Aman.

Officials privy to the deliberations of the meeting said that the project would start with the hiring of a foreign consultancy firm.

The firm would study the existing water supply system and prepare a feasibility report for the project.

Sources added that phase one of the project would commence within two to three months at a cost Rs0.4 billion and complete in approximately one year.

“In a few days, the authority will tender for the services of professional consultants to start work on phase one of the project,” an official added.

Acute water shortage has badly affected several sectors of the city due to long power outage and leakage in pipelines. The residents of Sectors I-9, I-10, G-6/1, G-7/4, G-7/1, G-8/4, G-8/1 and G-9/4 remained without water for at least 18 hours.

The Senior Director (Water Supply) of the CDA Shahid Sohail said that for many hours, the actual damage to the power supply system could not be assessed.

He said that IESCO provided one generator from its stock but it was out of order and could not be installed. He said that power outage not only disrupted water supply from the four water works but also sunk around 40 tube wells in the National Park area, further complicating the water crisis.

He said that the CDA explored another avenue to provide some water to the affected areas in sector G-9 by linking the supply line coming from Simly water reservoir.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 7^th, 2010.