ISLAMABAD: The Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) has suggested several measures for reducing the contamination of the water in Rawal Dam.

Talking to Dawn on Sunday, CADD Minister Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said that after setting up a three-day camp by the dam, the sources of contamination were identified after which long-term and mid-term solutions were proposed.

The report, available with Dawn, calls for the immediate banning of illegal construction along the Korang River as Capital Development Authority (CDA) rules prohibit construction within 1,000 feet on either side of the river. It says the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration has imposed section 144 to stop unauthorised construction, which is also being violated.

The report calls for the strict implementation of section 144 and for the proper demarcation of the 1,000 feet belt on either side of the Korang River where construction is banned. It says CDA and ICT should identify all encroachment in the prohibited area within two weeks.

Suggestions include banning construction along Korang River, identifying sewerage conduits and installing water treatment plants

“After demarcation and identification of these encroachments, a thorough removal campaign [should] be launched and every mapped encroachment [should] be removed,” the report says, and that a survey of the Korang River and other tributaries should be conducted for locating any sewerage outlets or hidden sewerage conduits.

The report, which was prepared under the supervision of the CADD minister, says that the Islamabad deputy commissioner should arrange navy divers to find hidden sewerage conduits which may have been lain illegally by the nearby communities and housing societies.

For its mid-term solution, the report suggested the promulgation of rules within two months by the concerned local governments and development authorities in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for banning construction in a specified area along all tributary rivers of Rawal Lake.

All sewerage collection ponds must be mapped within a year and lined with impervious material for ensuring there is no leakage of waste into the water table. The report says all local government should ensure that household, commercial and industrial sewerage waste is always emptied into the proper sewerage system, disposal units or septic tanks. It says a campaign should be launched in this regard and certificates are to be obtained within a month from the heads of local government regarding full compliance with this direction.

The five-page report goes on to say that the ICT Local Government Act, 2015 should be amended for requiring approvals and building plans in the rural areas.

For its long term solutions, the report says a comprehensive treatment strategy be devised for the watersheds of Rawal Lake, treatment standards of various types are to be notified and in no case are untreated effluents to be allowed to flow into the river system of Rawal Lake or seep into the subterranean water table. The treatment project is to be based on the latest technology and the commissioner is to map out the Rawal Lake watershed in six months for this.

The report calls for the establishment of a Rawal Lake watershed authority as well.

The Supreme Court is also hearing a suo motu case in this regard, based on a letter written by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan for inviting the court’s attention towards the unchecked and unplanned construction in Banigala, large scale tree felling and the pollution in Rawal Lake. The CADD minister submitted this report during the hearing last Thursday.

“I was not summoned by SC and I was attending the hearing as the local MNA,” the CADD minister said.

Published in Dawn, February 26th, 2018