LAHORE: The Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) on Friday informed the Lahore High Court that several projects were underway to upgrade the city’s water supply, sanitation and drainage systems, including the construction of rainwater storage tanks.

“In order to augment the existing drainage system and to address the issue of urban flooding, Wasa, Lahore, is constructing rainwater storage tanks at critical locations,” says a report filed by Wasa’s legal advisor Mian Irfan Akram.

The report says the underground tanks store rainwater for reuse and recharge of groundwater aquifers. It adds that the underground tanks have a combined capacity of storing water up to 24.2 million gallons.

It says the initiative aims to reduce the load on the city’s drainage infrastructure, promote rainwater recycling and conserve groundwater.

Justice Karim says power connections of farmers burning stubble be severed

Advocate Akram told the court that the report titled “Lahore Water and Wastewater Management Project — Construction of Surface Water Treatment Plant at BRBD Canal Lahore” was presented in the 77th meeting of the Provincial Development Working Party (PDWP).

He said the project included a component of installation of 202,548 consumer water meters.

However, he pointed out, the meeting directed the Wasa to remove the said component from foreign funding and execute it through provincial sources.

He said supply and installation of water meters would be started after approval and inclusion of the scheme in ADP 2025-26 by the competent authority.

Justice Shahid Karim observed that the installation of water meters would help prevent water wastage.

A lawyer representing the Punjab government told the court that a meeting regarding the stubble burning issue was yet to be held.

The judge remarked that farmers’ electricity connections should be disconnected to deter them from stubble burning.

A judicial commission presented a report on the Kasur tanneries, saying the Lahore commissioner had assured action against these units. A member of the commission said a four-month deadline had been sought for the rehabilitation of treatment plants in Kasur.

The judge sought implementation reports from the environment department, agriculture department, and other relevant institutions on environmental pollution.

The judge also summoned a report regarding checking heavy smoke-emitting vehicles at toll plazas.

Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2025