RAWALPINDI, April 16: The government of Japan has shown its willingness to finance the construction of Daducha Dam on Ling River during its financial year 2004-05, Dawn has learnt.

The Japanese government's intentions regarding the project funding came to light in a letter sent by the Federal Flood Commission (FFC) chairman to the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA), Small Dams Organization (SDO) and Ministry of Economic Affairs and Statistics.

The letter stated: "The government of Japan is assigning top priority to the implementation of Daducha Dam project during its financial year 2004-05." According to official sources, the FFC chairman has asked the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) to attain the "concept clearance pro forma" of the project from the Planning and Development Division, government of Punjab.

The clearance is necessary to make a formal request to the Japan government, through the Economic Affairs Division, regarding the project funding, they added.

The FFC chairman has also asked the department concerned to get the concept clearance pro forma approved from the Concept Clearance Committee to pave the way for formal approval of the project PC-1 from the Punjab government.

The sources said the FFC had asked the Japan International Cooperation Agency to prepare its proposals in connection with the project and send those to the Japanese government as soon as possible.

The Japanese government, they said, had decided to finance the project after the Asian Development Bank refused to fund it as part of the Rawalpindi Environmental Improvement Project despite having received many requests from Wasa officials.

The project, if implemented, can help Wasa meet any acute water shortage in near future keeping in view the burgeoning number of the agency's consumers and scarce sources. It may be recalled that Wasa is already facing water shortage, which can become worse in the hot season.