ISLAMABAD: A draft Act has been finalised for setting up Potohar Water Board (PWB) aimed at resolving the water scarcity issue in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

The proposed legislation was recently vetted by the ministry of law. Once approved by parliament, PWB will have a secretariat at the CDA headquarters. It will be headed by the secretary interior and will have 13 members, including two experts from the private sector, who will be appointed for three years.

Rawalpindi and Islamabad have been facing growing water scarcity. In Islamabad, the CDA has only three main sources — Simly Dam, Khanpur Dam and tubewells.

From these three sources, barely up to 70 million gallons per day is supplied, mainly to the urban areas. The rural population is dependent either on bored water or small schemes.

According to CDA’s documents, the actual demand of Islamabad is 283 mgd (264 actual and 37mgd distribution losses).

Once established, board will pay special focus on stalled mega Tarbala water project for twin cities, says official

Sources said the PWB will pay special focus on the stalled mega Tarbala project, which was proposed in 2008 to bring 200mgd for the twin cities, but could not move beyond files.

According to proposed legislation, “The Board shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal. It shall have the power, subject to the provisions of this Act, to enter into agreements and contracts, acquire, hold, and sell property, both movable and immovable, and shall have the authority to sue and be sued.” The proposed board will be a unified body of various organisations to focus on resolving water issues of twin cities.

The draft legislation said the jurisdiction of PWB will be extended to any bulk water source, reservoir, storage facility or water transport infrastructure that is not supplied with water drawn from Indus River or any dam constructed; or any dam or river situation within the province of KP or Punjab.

“The board’s jurisdiction shall extend to the entire water-transport system conveying water from the Tarbela and Khanpur reservoirs to any bulk water source, reservoir, or storage facility designated for that purpose.”

It will also work for prevention of water contamination, pollution or degradation of any bulk-water source, reservoir, water-transport infrastructure, or water body under its jurisdiction. Besides other functions, the board will also issue fishing permits.

“The Board shall consist of a Chairman and twelve members. The Secretary, Ministry of Interior and Narcotics Control shall be the Chairman of the Board,” read the draft legislation.

The board shall be entrusted with the following functions: to develop plan, evaluate, develop and monitor sustainable water resources for Islamabad and Rawalpindi; ensure conservation, redistribution, augmentation and sustainable use of water resources for equitable long-term supply to Islamabad and Rawalpindi; conduct hydrological studies, water audits, demand forecasting and publish data to support long-term water sustainability planning; determine water-usage charges and recover the same from relevant entities utilising water from board-managed infrastructure.

Published in Dawn, November 7th, 2025