RAWALPINDI: The shortage of water in the cantonment areas has forced elected members of the Chaklala Cantonment Board (CCB) to demand the Rawalpindi station commander to resolve the issue.

In a CCB board meeting chaired by Station Commander Brig Shahzad Tanveer, elected members led by the vice president, Raja Irfan Imtiaz, pointed out that the cantonment areas’ civilian population receives less water from Khanpur Dam than they are supposed to, and demanded that the resolution of the issue be prioritised.

Mr Imtiaz said the CCB is supposed to receive 9 million gallons daily (MGD) from Khanpur Dam, but only 2mgd is released for the CCB on alternate days. He said they are supplied less water while their requirement is greater than 9mgd.

After the meeting, Mr Imtiaz told Dawn that the station commander is also president of the Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) and would resolve the issue pending with the RCB.

He said the water table in the Chaklala area has been depleting rapidly, and seven tubewells have gone dry in the last two to three months.

Chaklala board meeting decides to start Rs21m development projects in five wards

“We have no other means to get water other than from Khanpur Dam,” he said.

“The station commander assured elected members to call a meeting of both cantonments and other stakeholders to find a solution to the problem facing the people,” he said.

“We also demanded to get development funds from the federal government to improve the condition of the cantonment areas, as the federal government made promises to provide grant-in-aids but failed to release a penny in this regard.”

Mr Imtiaz said the station commander would call a meeting of parliamentarians of the Rawalpindi cantonment and elected CCB and RCB members so that demands could be prepared, which would then be sent to the federal government.

“The federal government should pay attention to the development of the cantonment areas, as the people pinned high hopes on the ruling PML-N in the local government elections to solve civic problems, but the federal government failed to meet their expectations,” he said.

It was also decided at the CCB board meeting to start Rs21 million worth of development projects in five wards, from Tamasmabad Rawal Road to Jhanda Chichi Airport Road.

Funding was provided by former MNA Hanif Abbasi, who acquired the funds from the Punjab government for the NA-56 constituency. Five wards in the CCB fall in NA-56, while the other five wall in NA-52 and NA-54.

The meeting also discussed an issue with teachers; the CCB has recruited 10 new teachers who are to be paid Rs25,000 per month, while teachers already working in CCB schools are paid Rs13,000 per month.

Teachers have demanded an end in the difference in the salaries of old and new employees in the same grade. The board decided to increase the salaries of senior teachers from Rs13,000 to Rs25,000.

The board also gave a green light to the CCB to rent land on Chakri Road to use as a landfill site. The CCB does not have anywhere to dump garbage collected from the cantonment areas, so the site in Chakri was selected by the civic organisation in this regard and it sought approval from the board before making an agreement with the owner.

The CCB also approved building plans for 50 domestic units and nine commercial buildings in various parts of the cantonment.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2017