Flood-hit areas to have clean drinking water by Sept 20: CM

Punjab CM Shahbaz Sharif says provision of clean drinking water to the flood-affected areas is top priority.

LAHORE: The provision of clean drinking water to the flood-affected areas is the top priority of the provincial government, and the installation of water filtration plants in all union councils of the affected districts will be completed on an urgent basis, said Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Friday.

Presiding over a meeting held to discuss the provision of water to flood-hit areas, the chief minister directed the chief secretary to personally supervise the installation of 212 water filtration plants in the flood-hit areas and ensure that they are functional by September 20.

The meeting was given a detailed briefing regarding the installation of water filtration plants in the flood-affected areas.

The chief minister emphasised the need for the provision of potable water, particularly for preventing disease.

He directed the installation of generators in areas where the electricity supply has been disrupted, and ordered that a transparent system should be adopted for the purchase of said generators.

He added that the companies supplying the generators should be responsible for their installation and maintenance for three years, and a third-party audit should be conducted after the installation of water filtration plants.

Due to the urgent nature of this work, the departments concerned should work on this project round-the-clock and the project should be completed by September 20. He promised the complete financial support of the government for this purpose.

Earlier, the director general of local government gave a detailed briefing regarding the installation of water filtration plants in the flood-affected areas, in which he informed the meeting that 30 water filtration plants were already functional while 12 new plants had also been installed.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 11^th, 2010.