RAWALPINDI: Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) will receive the second installment of a World Bank loan worth $4.8 million, for the improvement of water and sewerage lines in the city, by end of this fiscal 2013-14.

Last year, the Punjab government received a $150 million loan from the World Bank under the head of Punjab City Governance improvement project for five big cities including Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan, Gujranwala and Rawalpindi.

Rawalpindi district’s share is $23.9 million. Under the project, the money has to be spent on the improvement of water and sewerage lines, existing roads and the repair of government buildings.

Fund worth Rs195 million each were released to Wasa and the roads and buildings department of the city district government Rawalpindi (CDGR), in January.

However, Wasa has spent 75 per cent of the money to pay utility bills for tube wells, while the rest was spent on the repair of sewerage lines and water supply lines in the Satellite Town area.

“We will receive another Rs203 million in July, as World Bank delegation assured during its visit to Wasa offices, a few days ago,” Managing Director Wasa Raja Shaukat Mehmood told Dawn, adding that the World Bank has asked Wasa to increase revenue.

“We have recovered Rs37.26 million, against the Rs44.97 million bills, from 94,000 domestic and 9,000 commercial consumers,” he said.

He said that the provincial government had made it clear that the second installment would only be released if the agency improves its services and recovery.

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