February 11, 2008	Monday	Safar 03, 1429

ISLAMABAD, Feb 10: After focussing on the beauty above the ground, the city managers have turned their attention towards the ugliness below.

So far the Capital Development Authority (CDA) highups have been focusing on apparent beautification of the city and visible development activities which could help in their image building and prolong their tenures.

Sources said one of the major problems confronting Islamabad ‘the beautiful’ was outdated underground water distribution system which caused water shortage that aggravated in hot season.

They said due to rusty and broken pipelines, sewage mixed with drinking water in many areas causing water-borne diseases.

Over 60 per cent of total water in Islamabad is wasted due to leakages in the underground water distribution system, they said.

Different reports issued so far by local and international agencies have unanimously confirmed over 60 per cent leakage of total water production in the capital.

The sources said about 25 per cent water was wasted due to leakage in primary and secondary underground water distribution network and main conduction lines, some 15 per cent waste occurred due to leakage in service pipes and 20 per cent go waste in houses.

According to a study, the city was on average receiving 65 million gallons per day (MGD) water as on April 29, 2006 from different ground and surface sources to cater the demand of the urban population of 650,000 including those coming from Rawalpindi and other areas on a daily basis. “Which means every person living in capital is supposed to receive about 440 litres of water per day,” it said.

The study recommended that the Capital Development Authority should replace the existing water distribution system, which would cost eight times less than the expenditure being estimated for bringing water from Ghazi Barotha at an estimated cost of Rs47 billion.

The report said city dwellers received even less than 100 litres per person per day.

According to the United Nations, a minimum of 100 litres of water per day is the basic right of every citizen.

This amount includes, in addition to domestic use, consumption in hospitals, schools, businesses and other public institutions.

The planned water supply network in Islamabad was made by Doxiadis Associate Consulting Engineers in 1961, which recommended to lay two separate areas according to the topography of the city. But the study was badly violated, the report added.

The study also proposed new lines for new sectors but the CDA always extended the existing pipes to meet the demand of the new sectors.

When contacted, Capital Development Authority director general services Mohammad Zaman agreed that the existing water distribution system required replacement.

He said the authority had chalked out a plan to provide round-the-clock potable water to the residents.

The PC-2 for rehabilitation and upgradation of the water distribution system has been approved and soon consultants would be hired for designing of the project. “A total of eight firms have submitted their proposal for designing,” he said.

The official said after approval for designing, the project would take three years for execution. He said under the project water meters would be installed in every house to monitor consumption.

However, he said the charges would be reasonable. He said this step would not only help check wastage of water but also double CDA’s revenue.

Zaman said the project would cost around Rs6 billion. The whole water supply system would also be replaced and upgraded under the project.

The official said the summary had been sent to the prime minister for approval after which work on the project would be started.