For safe drinking water: Filtration plants likely to be handed over to PCRWR

Move comes after years of public hue and cry over CDA’s failure to maintain plants

ISLAMABAD: A plan to hand over operations of water filtration plants in the city from the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) is being discussed.

An official source said CDA and PCRWR officials were currently in talks. The move comes after years of public hue and cry over the civic agency’s failure to maintain the plants.

He said of the total 38 filtration plants, 26 were non-functional. At the rest, he said, water quality was below standards. Residents have also claimed that the civic agency had not cleaned the underground water tanks for years.

Earlier, the CDA had outsourced operations of water filtration plants to private contractors but had to cancel most of the contracts after public complaints against contractors.

G-6 weekly bazaar to open daily

Meanwhile, the CDA has decided to open the G-6 weekly bazaar on a daily basis to facilitate consumers during Ramazan.

The decision was taken after the plan to set up four Ramazan bazaars in different sectors was shelved due to security concerns. Middle and lower income groups in G-6, G-7, F-6 and Bari Imam area rely on the G-6 weekly bazaar to shop daily use items.

Regularisation of 32 daily wagers

The civic agency has constituted a committee to scrutinise and review performance of 32 daily-wage employees to regularise them.

The committee headed by CDA Member Environment Syed Mustafain Kazmi will evaluate and assess employees’ work, testimonials and employment record before preparing and forwarding a summary to the CDA Board for approval.

A CDA official said that a decision was taken to regularise daily-wage employees in 2012, which has not been fully implemented yet.

The committee was formed after the employees petitioned the Islamabad High Court, which ruled in their favour.

Interchange at I-8 traffic signals

The CDA has decided to construct an interchange at the I-8 crossing on the Islamabad Expressway to ease traffic congestion at the intersection.

A CDA official said the authority had invited tenders for the project which would be completed in six months at a cost of Rs2 billion. He said eight construction companies have been pre-qualified and bidding for award of contact will be held on June 26. The construction work is scheduled to start in July. It will become a signal-free intersection after completion of the project.

In the second phase, the highway would be made signal-free from Faizabad to Koral Chowk. Up-gradation of the dual carriageway to five lanes on each side from Koral Chowk to Rawat is also part of the plan. Two lanes on both sides would be reserved for heavy traffic and the rest for light traffic.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 23^rd, 2015.