RAWALPINDI: Punjab Chief Minister of Maryam Nawaz has given in-principle approval to the Rawalpindi Development Plan, under which projects will be launched for upgradation of water and sewerage systems as well harvesting rainwater.

This was stated by Secretary Housing, Urban Development and Public Health Engineering Noorul Amin Mengal at a meeting held to review ongoing development works of Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa), Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA), Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) and Public Health Engineering Department at the RDA office on Monday.

Mr Mengal asked Wasa to immediately prepare PC-I of the schemes for the Rawalpindi Development Plan. He said Punjab government had already launched work in Lahore and after this experience it decided to upgrade water supply and sewerage systems in Rawalpindi.

He said ground storage should be built on the model of Lahore city for rainwater for which PHA’s parks should be used. He further said that all resources should be utilised to save every drop of water.

Secretary housing directs Wasa to prepare PC-I of schemes under Rawalpindi Development Plan approved by chief minister

The secretary housing said that preparations for the monsoon should be completed immediately. The feasibility study for obtaining water from Daducha Dam should be completed in the shortest possible time to supply water to the city.

He appreciated the efforts of Wasa for recovering Rs2.6 billion against the annual revenue recovery target of Rs2.3 billion and stressed on further increasing the revenue recovery target in the next financial year.

About Leh Nullah project, Mr Mengal said two-lane roads would be constructed on both sides of the nullah and all sewage will be discharged into it. A sewerage treatment plant will be installed to use sewer for agriculture purposes.

Mr Mengal, who also served as the commissioner Rawalpindi and the RDA director general in 2023, said that he knew most of the projects and requirements of the city and there was a dire need to speed up the work. He said the government would not tolerate any negligence to complete public welfare projects.

The secretary housing also stopped RDA and Punjab Housing and Town Planning Agency (PHATA) from sanctioning any housing scheme before approval of the master plan of Rawalpindi on which work was nearing completion.

He said that the provincial government was planning to bring monitoring of private housing societies under one civic body. However, he said that no more approval would be given before the passage of the master plan.

Wasa Managing Director Saleem Ashraf gave a briefing and said the agency had formulated a comprehensive plan for the monsoon in which cleaning the drains was going on rapidly.

Along with the overhauling of the machinery, training of the staff has also been done. Five monsoon camps will be set up across the city where staff and heavy machinery will be present during rains. The main control room will be established at Wasa head office.

He said besides installation of 20 new tubewells, work was ongoing to ensure water supply from Rawal Dam and Khanpur Dam. Under new projects, 12 million gallons daily (MGD) water will be provided from Chahan Dam, an additional five MGD from Rawal Dam and eight MGD from Khanpur Dam. Moreover, 35 MGD water will be available from Daducha Dam, the feasibility of which has been started and work will be completed in next two months.

Development Authority (RDA) Director General Kinza Murtaza gave a briefing on Rawalpindi Ring Road and Leh Nullah Expressway projects.

Published in Dawn, June 17th, 2025