ISLAMABAD: The much-awaited PC-I for setting up five sewage treatment plants (STPs) in different catchment areas of the federal capital is likely to get the green signal from the Planning Commission by the end of the current month.

“The plants will be installed at the catchment areas of Bari Imam, Lower and Upper Shahdara and Simly Dam,” Chief Metropolitan Officer Syed Najaf Alam told this news agency.

The idea floated by the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration and the Cabinet Division in 2012 is aimed at stopping the flow of sewage into the streams of Murree and the Korang River which discharged into Rawal Lake.

Five plants will be installed at catchment areas of Bari Imam, Lower, Upper Shahdara and Simly Dam, says official

The Supreme Court had also asked the Rawal Monitoring Committee to hire a consultancy firm for recommendations on checking water contamination in Rawal Lake.

Mr Alam said the Rs3.69 billion PC-I had been completed and was awaiting the final nod from the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (Ecnec) after clearance of technical observations made by the Planning Commission.

He explained that the technical observations were related to environment protection and feasibility reports besides some other issues.

Answering a question, he said the PC-I was prepared on a war-footing for its early submission to the Planning Commission. He expressed confidence that the project would be approved by the end of this month.

About the plants’ capacity, he said the five units would purify nine million gallon contaminated water per day.

Another official of the MCI held the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the Punjab government responsible for the inordinate delay in finalising the project.

The Punjab government, he said, did not pay 33pc cost of the project and the CDA showed negligence in pursuing the consultancy work.

When the issue was raised in the apex court, the CDA contacted the consultant who had already prepared the feasibility report.

Meanwhile, the provincial government raised the objection that it was not taken on board while preparing the PC-I, the official said.

After approval of the PC-I, he said: “We will start other procedures such as prequalification, inviting tenders and hiring a contractor.”

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2018