93 filtration plants planned for Bahawalpur

BAHAWALPUR:

As many as 71 locations have been selected for the provision of safe drinking water in Lodhran, Hasilpur, Minchanabad and Khanpur, said Bahawalpur Commissioner Saqib Zafar on Thursday. 

He said 93 filtration plants had been approved for the division. He said Rs1 billion would be spent on the first phase of the project.

He said construction would begin on June 1 and be completed in two months.

He said addressing a meeting at his office.

The commissioner told the meeting that filtration plants would be set up 13 tehsils of Bahawalpur division in the second phase. He said a survey had been started for this purpose.

The commissioner said committees had been constituted to monitor provision of safe drinking water in rural areas. He said an awareness campaign on safe drinking water should be organised. He said assistant commissioners should lead the campaign.

Zafar said some 350,000 households would get access to safe drinking water after the first phase of installation of filtration plants was completed. The meeting also reviewed work on the Chief Minister’s Cholistan Development Package.

The commissioner was told that construction of 32 roads in Cholistan had begun. He was told that Rs800 million had been provided for this purpose.

The meeting was told that 78 per cent work on these projects had been completed.

The commissioner was told that 450 tobas (ponds) were being constructed to provide water to residents of Cholistan, of which 290 tobas had been completed. The others would be completed by June 30.

The commissioner took notice of absence of teachers and doctors from schools and health facilities.

He also reviewed preparations for floods. He said the Bahalwalpur division should be divided into various sectors in case of flooding.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 29^th, 2015.