RAWALPINDI: Special Assistant to Prime Minister on CDA Affairs Ali Nawaz on Tuesday directed Rawalpindi and Islamabad administrations to complete the Khanpur Dam canal dredging by Feb 9 so that water supply to the citizens could be restored by Feb 10.

The federal government has formed a committee under the chairmanship of the special assistant to study all aspects of water supply from Khanpur Dam to twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad and make recommendations to the planning, development and special initiatives ministry.

The first meeting of the special committee was held on Tuesday. It was attended Rawalpindi Station Commander Brig Ijaz Qamar Kiani, RCB Cantonment Executive Officer Sibtain Raza, CDA Chairman Amer Ali Khan and officials of the Federal Government Employees Housing Authority, Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa), Planning Commission, Punjab Irrigation Department, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Irrigation Department, Water and Power Development Authority and others.

The meeting was informed that the dredging of Khanpur Dam canal was in progress and would take more than 10 days for completion, and the water supply would be restored after more than two weeks.

However, Mr Awan rejected the idea and asked all the stakeholders to complete the work by Feb 9.

The station commander informed the meeting about his visit to the area and the serious issue of water theft from the canal. He said there was an urgent need to carry out repair work on the canal.He said the cantonment areas relied on water from the Khanpur Dam and it should be saved from theft and leakages in the canal. He said a special force should be formed to monitor the canal.

Punjab Irrigation Department officials informed the meeting that it was not the duty of their department to de-silt the canal falling in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and it would only do the work in one kilometre area. The total length of the canal is 18 kilometres.

Upon this, Mr Awan summoned the secretary Punjab irrigation to the next meeting to explain the issue. He said it was the duty of all the stakeholders to take part in the dredging work without any delay.

The meeting was informed that the Rs130 million Khanpur Dam project Phase-II had been prepared to enhance the water supply to the twin cities.

CDA officials said there was land available for the second filtration plant to clean water from the Khanpur Dam for Rawalpindi and Islamabad. The project will be launched soon after release of funds by the federal government.

Published in Dawn, February 5th, 2020