LAHORE: The Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) has severed water supply connection of as many as 280 service stations (car wash facilities) for wasting water in washing of vehicles on a daily basis.

The agency has also sent bills of Rs10,000 each to the owners of service stations for extracting water using motor pumps after disconnection of water supply.

As per official data, more than 550 service stations (either attached with petrol pumps or having independent premises) are operating in the city. Of these, 280 stations are using Wasa water supply connections, while the remaining 270 are relying on motor pumps.

“The service stations use about 400 gallons for washing each car or other vehicle, we want them to consume maximum 80 gallons for the purpose. First we issued notices to 280 service stations and gave them one week’s time to stop washing vehicles. But they didn’t comply with the direction, forcing us finally to cut off their commercial water connections,” Wasa Managing Director Syed Zahid Aziz told Dawn on Monday.

Owners told to get recycling units installed, those using motor pumps billed Rs10,000 each

For the last couple of months, the departments concerned, especially Wasa, have been working out various proposals regarding water conservation following the orders of both high and apex courts. The departments during various hearings briefed the courts about the present scenario of water conservation, depletion of water table, steps taken by the government to check it and future course of action etc.

The courts, while giving remarks and judgments on the issue, directed the senior officials concerned to take up the matter seriously and take immediate steps.

“They (service station owners) are very sharp. They immediately got installed motor pumps after we cut off their water supply. But since we are after them, we served them bills (on average Rs10,000 each) for using water that Wasa owns under the law,” Mr Aziz added.

Wasa has also given a two-month time to all the 550 stations to make arrangements for water conservation. The owners have been directed to get installed plants that recycle the used water and make it fit to reuse for washing vehicles.

“Similarly, they have also been asked to also get machines that consumes less water (not more than 80 gallons) for washing each car,” he said.

The Wasa chief said as the agency was empowered to charge Rs100,000 from anyone using one cusec of water, it had also started serving notices to all private housing schemes in Lahore. In the first phase, Wasa’s field formations so far issued notices to 133 schemes, he said. Similarly, a list of 122 cooperative housing societies had also been obtained by Wasa from the cooperatives department, he added.

“Some of the private housing societies, including Bahria Town, have paid bill amounting to hundreds of thousands of rupees to Wasa for extracting the underground water,” he maintained.

He said the arrangements were also being made to reuse mosques water (used for Wuzzu) for irrigating the parks. For this, several mosques located in or nearby the parks have been shortlisted, the MD said.

OPERATION: The Lahore Development Authority’s team retrieved four kanals of commercial land worth millions of rupees, situated at Shan Bhatti Road in ‘K’ block of Johar Town on Monday.

According to a spokesman, the LDA team demolished unlawfully constructed shops and other structures on around 13 commercial plots, 12 measuring four marlas each and one measuring eight marlas, besides the land reserved for parking. LDA Director General Ms Amna Imran Khan visited the site to inspect the ongoing operation.

“A countrywide crackdown on land mafia has been launched on the direction of the prime minister which would continue till achievement of the objectives,” she told the media.

LWMC: Lahore Waste Management Company formally launched ‘Clean and Green Campaign’ here on Monday.

In this context, LWMC conducted an extensive awareness drive outside Deputy Commissioner Office (Lower Mall).

“The objective of the activity was to reach out to maximum number of people to raise the importance of cleanliness,” said a press release.

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2018