RAWALPINDI: The Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) has asked Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation (RMC) to vacate seven houses and 32 shops located on the premises of the Hailey Waterworks on Saidpur Road.

Hailey Waterworks — popularly known as Kali Tanki - was constructed in 1926 to supply water to the city areas. It was handed over to the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) in 1998 by the RMC.

Besides Kali Tanki, there was Safaid Tanki which was established at a later stage. Water from Rawal Dam and tubewells are stored in the overhead tanks and supplied to the downtown areas. These tanks have the capacity of storing 60,000 gallons of water.

Seven houses and 32 shops located on the premises of Hailey Waterworks could be used to generate revenue, official says

A senior official of Wasa told Dawn that the RMC handed over the water supply system to the agency but kept all the commercial properties under its possession. He said the houses on the premises of Hailey Waterworks were being used by RMC officials. He said the matter was taken up with RDA Chairman Arif Abbasi who decided to write a letter to the RMC to vacate all the properties.

If these buildings are taken back from the RMC, it could help Wasa generate revenue to tackle its financial crisis. He said Wasa was facing Rs1.5 billion deficit per year.

The official said the provincial government had been asked to provide a bailout package to Wasa but the summery was pending with Chief Minister Usman Buzdar.

When contacted, the RDA chairman said the land of Kali and Safaid tankis had been encroached by the RMC and the Public Health Engineering Department.

“We have asked the RMC to vacate the property as soon as possible.”

He said RMC Chief Municipal Officer (CMO) Shafqaat Raza had sought the record of Wasa’s land and the RDA provided him all the record. He said the RMC had been given a week to vacate the Wasa land.

After getting back the land RMC and other departments, the RDA would start a project to generate revenue.

CMO Shafqaat Raza could not be contacted for comments but another senior official of the RMC said there was no truth behind the RDA’s claim as the commercial property was owned by the RMC.

He said the RMC had handed over the water supply system to Wasa not its (RMC’s) property. He said indulging the civic bodies in arguments on the ownership of RMC’s property would be wastage of time.

Published in Dawn, December 19th, 2018