ISLAMABAD, Jan 25: The Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR), in line with the directions of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, has initiated consultation with provinces for establishing water testing laboratories and provision of safe drinking water in 107 districts.

In an official announcement, the PCRWR said each district would be provided with a filtration plant for clean and safe drinking water. Besides, tehsils and sub-tehsils would be provided chlorination facilities with the cooperation of district governments.

The project would be completed at an estimated cost of Rs1.8 billion, for which funds are being allocated by the government. Provision of safe and clean drinking water to the public is the top priority of the government, the announcement said, adding that the districts of Sargodha, Ziarat, Mardan and Hyderabad would be given priority considering severity of water contamination in these areas.

PCRWR Chairman Dr Mohammad Akram Kahlown, after a meeting with Federal Minister for Science and Technology Chaudhry Nouraiz Shakoor Khan, and the ministry' secretary, Kh Zaheer Ahmad, had recently briefed the prime minister on the provision of safe drinking water.

The prime minister, during the briefing, appreciated the efforts of the PCRWR and the ministry for taking lead in addressing the sensitive issue of bacterial and chemical contamination of drinking water due to which water borne diseases had increased in the country, the announcement said.

The council has also been directed to launch a mass awareness campaign to educate people about hazards of contaminated water. The campaign would be carried out in collaboration with the ministries of health and agriculture. The PCRWR would work as a coordinating agency between the federal and provincial organizations in providing safe drinking water.

The prime minister has also directed the PCRWR to replicate the rainwater harvesting model, successfully tested at Cholistan desert in Thar (Sindh) and Kharan (Balochistan) deserts. In this regard, the PCRWR teams have been sent to Thar and Kharan to collect the field data for the implementation of rainwater harvesting projects.