ISLAMABAD: The Asian Development Bank (ABD) has selected Sialkot and Sahiwal as part of the Punjab Intermediate Cities Improvement Investment Programme (PICIIP) which aims to improve the quality of urban services available in selected cities of the province having population up to one million.

The urban infrastructure development is an important component of the PICIIP whose duration will be six years, and funding will be assessed in phases with overall budget of $500 million. The first phase will fund investments in the intermediate cities of Sialkot and Sahiwal.

Major projects planned for Sialkot city during the first phase of PICIIP will be water supply improvement, sewerage and drainage improvement, and urban development improvements, including transport routes and green spaces.

The major projects planned for Sahiwal city are water supply improvement, sewerage and drainage improvement, sewerage treatment plant, green spaces development transport routes improvement.

The pre-feasibility study of Sialkot city has been completed which identified three projects under transport, water supply and sewerage improvement. The Sialkot Municipal Corporation (SMC) under local government will be the executing agency of the proposed projects.

Rehabilitation of water supply tube wells, overhead reservoirs and water distribution pipelines will be carried out at different parts of the city. These projects will improve water quality and water supply situation in the city.

Currently, 95 tube wells are operational, catering to the needs of the urban population of Sialkot.

Based on the average discharge and operation time of these tube wells, the total daily production for Sialkot city excluding the cantonment area is equivalent to 38.4 million gallons, while per capita production is equivalent to 79.8 gallons per day

At some places, new water supply infrastructure will also be installed. The Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system implementation and bulk metering of water supply will also be the part of water supply improvement project.

Rehabilitation of sewerage and drainage network and disposal stations will be carried out at different parts of the city. At some places the sewers will be replaced.

Improvements and upgrades to 3km Kashmir Road and one general bus stand will be carried out under this part of the project. Rehabilitation of existing parks and development of green belts at different parts of the city will be the green spaces development projects.

According to the pre-feasibility study for Sahiwal city, four projects have been identified in transport, water supply, sewerage and green spaces development.

Rehabilitation of water supply tube wells, overhead reservoirs and water distribution pipelines will be carried out in designated parts of the city. These projects will improve water quality and the water supply situation in the city.

Rehabilitation of the sewerage and drainage network and disposal stations will be carried out in different parts of the city. In some places, the sewerage system will be extended and a trunk sewer will be constructed. The construction of a Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) will also be part of the sewerage and drainage improvement project.

Improvements and upgrades to 3km Railway Road and two general bus stands will be carried out under this part of the project. Rehabilitation of existing parks and development of green belts at different parts of the city will be the green spaces development projects.

Published in Dawn, April 9th, 2017