Money down the drain: Rs110m dancing fountain for capital stumps public

Either Ankara Park or Lake View Park to house the attraction.

ISLAMABAD:

In another case of misplaced priorities, the city mangers are planning to install a dancing fountain worth a whopping Rs110 million that has been biting the dust in the Capital Development Authority’s (CDA) warehouse.

But the civic agency is yet to decide where to install this outrageously expensive fountain, which was purchased in 2009 and assembled in Spain.

During a meeting held at CDA Headquarters, it was decided that the authority’s member environment would select the most feasible site from among Ankara Park, adjacent to the Rawal Lake Roundabout on Club Road, or the twin cities’ most-visited recreational site, Lake View Park.

“The installation cost of the fountain is included in the Rs110 million figure,” said a senior CDA official. The contractor who, in 2009, procured the fountain was responsible for its installation. However, the firm abandoned the project.

“Around 90 per cent of the total amount has already been paid to the contractor, who owing to the city managers’ lax attitude, abandoned the project,” he added.

“The fountain, which is 60 metres wide, can shoot water up to 30 feet in the air and has a sound system and ability to display colours,” said another official, adding that the fountain can squirt water in various combinations and patterns. The fountain also has a range of laser lights that set up against water particles. The water streams refract the light and a three-dimensional image is created.

He said that in-built pressurised water jets and shooters would make it seem as if the water was dancing in the air with background music. He said the fountain would not be operational round the clock or in consecutive hours, adding that the times of performances would be finalised after the fountain is installed.

He said one performance would last for seven to 10 minutes.  On Tuesday, the concerned formation of the authority was asked to examine the fountain’s condition as it has been lying abandoned in a warehouse for more than three years. “The chairman has ordered to install the fountain at the earliest.”

When asked about several cybernetic fountains installed around the city which are presently dysfunctional, the official said the project would be revived and cybernetic fountains would be made operational as directed by the CDA chairman before inaugurating the dancing fountain.

A few days ago, CDA’s finance wing linked the allocation of funds for the purchase and installation of electricity and water supply channels for eight cybernetic fountains in the city with the approval of the project’s PC-I.

Like several other costly projects initiated by the authority’s Project Management Office in 2009, the Rs93.27 million cybernetic fountains project’s PC-I still needs CDA’s approval as the Chinese-made fountains were purchased and installed in anticipation of then chairman approval on condition that the PC-I would be submitted within 10 days of the anticipated approval.

However, it was not submitted and the fountains are still non-functional.

A few years ago, three fountains in the capital were provided electricity and water panels to make them operational.

However, in a few days the power channels of the fountains installed at Kashmir Chowk and Rawal Chowk were rendered useless due to electricity fluctuation, leaving the fountain at the 7th Avenue-Margalla Road intersection in working order.

Then in November 2011, unidentified persons stole some of the expensive lights on the fountain installed along 9th Avenue.

Similarly, in September 2012, violent protesters severely damaged two fountains installed near Rawal Chowk and Kashmir Chowk amid the hooliganism on Ishq-e-Rasool Day (Love for Prophet (PBUH) Day).

Published in The Express Tribune, August 28^th, 2013.