To overcome water crisis, USAID lends civic body a helping hand

Since August, 140 energy-efficient tube well pumps installed across the city.

ISLAMABAD:

With the help of USAID, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has installed 140 energy-efficient tube well pumps across the city, replacing outdated ones installed by the civic body.

The replacement is being carried out under USAID’s Power Distribution Programme, said Ziaur Rehman, the programme’s communications director. Rehman said the programme will replace all 187 CDA tube well pumps across the city by January 2013. The new pumps will improve water supply and cut energy consumption by an estimated 2 megawatts, he added.

On Monday, Alexander Thier, assistant to the Administrator of USAID, joined CDA officials on a visit to Sector I-10, one of the areas which have benefitted from the replacement programme.

“The pumps will not only improve water supply but also reduce CDA’s energy bills by $900,000 a year,” Thier said during his visit. “[The measure will] reduce the circular debt burden on the Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO), which subsidises the municipal water pumping system,” he added.

CDA Spokesperson Ramzan Sajid welcomed the initiative. He said more than 30 tube wells of the civic agency were out of order and required change of machinery, while many others were rusty or in a dilapidated condition.

In October, The Express Tribune had quoted Sajid as saying that water wastage in the city is at least three times more than the acceptable limit of 10 to 15 per cent for a municipality. That, coupled with illegal connections has compounded the shortage.

There has been some immediate relief though, according to statistics provided by USAID. Rehman said prior to the replacement of the pumps, CDA on average received 1,000 water-related complaints every day. But since the replacement, the complaints have dropped to only 40 per day on average, he added.

IESCO might be able to better serve the city’s household energy needs, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 11^th, 2012.