ISLAMABAD: In a bid to resolve water shortage in Islamabad, the city managers on Thursday underscored the need for sustainable measures to address the issue on a long-term basis.
On the other hand, no new water resource has been developed in the last around three decades.
According to a statement, CDA Chairman Mohammad Ali Randhawa chaired a meeting on the issue and “reaffirmed his commitment to resolving Islamabad’s water challenges and improving water supply for the residents.”
Sources in the CDA said until new resources are explored, the issue of water shortage cannot be resolved for good. While Islamabad has become a fast growing city, the addition of water supply to it from Khanpur Dam was made about 26 years ago.
Recently, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi during the question-hour in Senate also acknowledged that the capital city had been facing an acute shortage of water.
Head of Islamabad Water Agency briefs meeting on water challenges, required human resource and funding issues
“It is a fact that the water demand of Islamabad, (urban areas) is approximately 120 million gallons per day while the available supply is only 80 MGD (maximum). Similar position regarding demand prevails in the rural areas of Islamabad.
However, the demand is mostly met through consumer boring in such areas. Presently, the shortfall is managed by supplying water intermittently on alternate day basis in some areas,” the minister had said, adding various measures/initiatives had been taken by the government to bridge the demand-supply gap.
He said a project regarding conduction of water from Indus River/Tarbela Dam for Islamabad and Rawalpindi had been conceived, which could meet the present shortfall as well as the future demand up to 2050.
Mr Naqvi said the feasibility study of the project was completed in 2009 but it couldn’t be executed mainly for want of appreciable funding.
In parallel, pre-feasibility studies of various dams have also been initiated like Dotara Carryover Dam upstream of Khanpur Dam, Chiniot Carryover Dam upstream of Simly Dam and Shahdara Dam for increasing water supply to Islamabad, he said, adding that the issue of stalled Chirah Dam project was also being taken up with the Punjab government.
Sources in the CDA said time had come when CDA, instead of holding discussions on water shortage, took practical steps to add new sources to the system.
Meanwhile, the meeting held at the CDA headquarters mainly discussed better management of water resources and related challenges.
The meeting was attended by CDA board members, the director general (DG) Islamabad Water and other officers. Additionally, the DG Wasa Lahore and his team participated online. The meeting focused on discussing the roadmap for the newly-established Islamabad Water Agency and its effective operations.
The CDA chairman said Islamabad Water Agency should play an active role in resolving the city’s water-related issues.
The DG Islamabad Water Agency briefed the meeting on the water challenges, required human resource and its financial issues.
The chairman instructed that the management of water resources should be improved with greater transparency, stressing the adoption of an e-governance model. He highlighted the importance of introducing IT-based initiatives such as e-billing and net metering.
The DG Wasa shared insights regarding water management initiatives implemented in Lahore.
He also provided details about the monitoring mechanism through their control room established and the system developed for addressing complaints efficiently.
Published in Dawn, January 24th, 2025
