RAWALPINDI: Elected members of the Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation (RMC) on Tuesday adopted resolutions to resolve water shortage, street crime and traffic congestion in the city besides approving development projects worth Rs230 million for the 46 union councils.

The monthly meeting of the corporation was chaired by Mayor Sardar Naseem and also attended by deputy mayor and members elected on special seats.

The chairmen of several union councils expressed concern over the water shortage in the city and asked the government to take measures to improve the situation.

The members through a resolution called upon the government to link the pipelines of Ghazi Barotha Dam with Rawalpindi to avert any water crisis in the next five years. For this purpose, the government should approve a grant, they said.

Chairman UC 20 Haji Arshad Mahmood drew the attention of the mayor towards the supply of contaminated drinking water from Rawal Dam. He said the CDA had admitted that water supplied from Rawal Dam was unhygienic.

He proposed that the mayor should form a committee, comprising officials of the CDA and Wasa, to resolve the issue.

The members also called upon the mayor for taking measures to improve the fire brigade service in Rawalpindi. There is a shortage of firefighting vehicles and staff.

The pipes of the vehicles are leaking. If any incident of fire occurs, the fire brigade will not be able to cope with it, they added.

The mayor assured the chairmen that he would be working for the resolution of the issues.

He directed officials of Wasa to improve the drainage and sewerage system from Banni as water accumulated at Murree Road during rains. He also directed them to build manholes and outlets on roads to ensure a smooth flow of rainwater.

When one of the chairmen drew the attention of mayor towards the dearth of space in graveyards, Sardar Naseem said 200 kanals had been acquired in Rakh Dhamiyal for a new graveyard.

The process to start the construction work is being initiated which would be completed in six months.

At the start of the meeting, the chairmen presented a resolution which denounced the killing of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2017