RAWALPINDI: The Punjab government has reached out to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for funding for the Daducha and Chahan dams and a sewerage treatment plant for Rawalpindi city.

A senior Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) official told Dawn that water sources for the city need to be increased, and the government has begun working on the construction of the Daducha and Chahan dams to meet the needs of the city and cantonment areas.

He said Wasa and ADB officials met in Lahore last week to discuss upcoming projects to be executed by civic authorities.

The official said the provincial government was seeking financial assistance under the bank’s Punjab Intermediate Cities Improvement Investment Programme that was ongoing in some cities.

The bank agreed to consider technical assistance and conduct feasibility studies for the two dams under the second phase of the investment programme in the coming days.

Funds will be used for building Daducha, Chahan dams

The official said the government would pay for the construction of both dams but the water supply system, including a filtration plant and the main supply lines, would be laid using a loan from the bank.

Further talks could be held in this regard with the bank in Lahore, he added. He said the government wanted to complete the project to meet the city’s future water needs and avoid a shortage in the coming years.

Rawalpindi city would receive six million gallons daily (MGD) water from Chahan Dam to be built near Chakri on the Sill Kus River, 22 kilometres from the city.

Daducha Dam will be built upstream of Soan River. Rainwater from the Murree and Kahuta hills will gather in the Daducha village lake near Sihala on Kahuta Road.

The Bhun, Launa and Bhaoni villages will come under the dam which will provide Rawalpindi city 25 MGD of water.

The Wasa official said the agency had also planned a sewerage treatment plant for sewerage from Leh Nullah.

The plant would be built in Adiala village where land was procured in 2007 under the Rawalpindi Environment Improvement Project.

The official said a trunk sewer would be laid from Moti Mehal Cinema to Adiala village to bring Leh Nullah’s sewage to the plant and release treated water to agricultural land nearby.

He said the land procured for the plant was vacant.

When contacted, Wasa spokesperson Umer Farooq said the agency was negotiating with the ABD for water supply schemes and a sewerage treatment plant.

He said the provincial government would have a major role in these negotiations.

Mr Farooq said Ghazi Barotha Dam was also on the cards but work on that project would be started by the federal government because the Capital Development Authority would be the executing agency.

He said the CDA and the Rawalpindi Development Authority would sign a memorandum of understanding in this regard today (Friday).

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2019