RAWALPINDI, July 19: The two premium civic agencies of Rawalpindi on Thursday presented Rs2.1 billion budget for the fiscal year 2012-13, setting aside a hefty chunk for uplift projects.

The budget brings good news for patwaris as they get to upgrade their scales from 5 to 9.

The Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) presented a surplus budget of Rs1,165 million while the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) approved a Rs899 million deficit budget during the governing body meeting presided over by District Coordination Officer Saqib Zafar.

The RDA will launch work on the Leh Expressway project for which Rs250 million have been allocated. The civic agency will also construct a tunnel at Marrir Chowk to ease traffic congestion at a cost of Rs352 million. Tenders for the projects will be floated this month.

Director General RDA Chaudhry Naseer Ahmed said his office would also construct Adiala Road and Shah Khalid underpass at a cost of Rs41 million and Rs90 million, respectively.

The Punjab government will provide an additional amount of Rs919 million to the RDA under the Annual Development Programme (ADP) for the uplift projects. Officials said it would be the biggest chunk of fund to be allocated for the city during the last four years.

The budgets were approved in the presence of PML-N lawmakers Shakil Awan and Ziaullah Shah, who also gave the nod to upgrade the patwaris from 5 to 9 and gardawars (junior revenue officials) from the current 9 to 11.

Meanwhile, the Punjab government will provide Rs100 million to Wasa which needs Rs899 million to overcome the deficit.

The governing body said private filtration plants would be brought into the domain of the agency for regularising them.

Wasa will pay Rs57 million to the Capital Development Authority (CDA) for supplying water to the city from the Khanpur Dam while Rs237 million would be paid to Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) for running the tubewells in Rawalpindi.

The civic agency will also spend Rs30 million on laying sewage lines for the newly-constructed Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology that would be inaugurated soon. Replacing the decades-old drainage system in the city will cost Rs50 million.

The water distribution agency also plans to establish mini-filtration plants for which it has allocated Rs16 million while Rs10 million has been set aside for installing tubewells in areas facing water shortage.

The governing body also approved 50 new posts of lower technical staff in Wasa.

Aamir Yasin adds: The Punjab government has directed the town municipal administrations to utilise their uplift funds with the consent of PML-N leaders - elected representatives or heads of the party’s local chapters.

Under the Chief Minister’s Development Initiatives on Municipal Services, the TMAs have been asked to spend the unused citizen community boards’ funds on the schemes of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmakers and prominent leaders.

It also directed launching of development schemes worth Rs75 million on the recommendations of each MNA and Rs45 million each MPA.

The Rawal Town Municipal Administration (RTMA) on Thursday awarded contracts of 198 schemes worth Rs190 million in the constituencies of NA-55 and NA-56 and four constituencies of the provincial assembly.

Interestingly, the RTMA approved the schemes worth Rs70 million on the recommendations of PML-N city president Sardar Mohammad Naseem, who is neither an MNA nor member of the provincial assembly.

“We will launch Rs300 million development schemes before Eidul Fitr as the contracts for 198 schemes were awarded on Thursday and 148 schemes worth Rs110 million had been awarded last week,” said Rawal Town Administrator Saif Anwar Jappa while talking to Dawn.

He said the RTMA had started work on the development schemes soon after getting the proposals from MNAs and MPAs. “Sardar Naseem’s uplift schemes have been given approval as per instructions of the provincial government,” he said.

He said six schemes in different areas had also been started on the demand of the local residents.

Though the Rawal and Potohar towns have over Rs590 million in the CCB funds, they have failed to utilise the money for the last four years as the provincial government stopped them from doing so.

However, with the general elections approaching fast, now the provincial government gave a green signal to the TMAs to utilise these funds.

An amount of Rs300 million is available with RTMA while Potohar Town Municipal Administration has Rs290 million CCB funds.

An official in the Potohar Town said they had received all the schemes after getting approval from the opposition leader in National Assembly.

Potohar Town Administrator Talat Mehmood Gondal said they had received the development schemes from MNAs and MPAs and work on the projects would start soon.

PML-N city president Sardar Naseem could not be contacted for comments.

MNA Malik Shakeel Awan said the instruction from the provincial government was not new, adding Mr Naseem had been given the funds share under the practice put in place four years back.

He said being the head of the party’s city chapter, mostly people approached him for development works.