LAHORE: A mega project envisaging rainwater harvesting through construction of underground storage tanks is likely to be completed by Feb 15, as the civil work on most of the tanks has entered the finishing stage.

Besides harvesting rainwater, the project will also help control urban flooding during the monsoon and raise the depleting water table in Lahore city district, according to senior officials engaged in supervising the project.

Last year, three storage tanks, under the project’s scope of work were completed at Lawrence Garden (Bagh-i-Jinnah), Kashmir Road (lawn of Alhamra complex) and Sheranwala Gate. The work on 10 more tanks was initiated last year with a completion timeframe of six to eight months.

These tanks are currently being constructed at Gaddafi Stadium, Tikka Chowk (Johar Town), Mehran Block (Allam Iqbal Town), Ali Block (Garden Town), Sharif Park (Ichhra), Waris Road (Queens Road, near Mozang), Railway Station Chowk, Karim Park, Cooper Road and Tajpura. At present, the work on these storage tanks has entered the final phase.

The initiative will also help prevent urban flooding, raise water table

“The total water storage capacity of these 10 ponds, each having 20-foot depth, is 22 million gallons. A recharge well is also being constructed close to each tank so it can have water from the tank to raise the groundwater table. Some of these tanks were made partially operational in last monsoon to the extent of receiving water from accumulation points. But without the recharge wells, these tanks remain incomplete,” Lahore Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) Managing Director (MD) Ghufran Ahmad told Dawn on Friday.

The MD claimed that last year, the accumulation of rainwater and urban flooding were prevented at a couple of points due to rainwater harvesting through the storage tanks. So, the completion of these 10 ponds will help Wasa avert urban flooding in critical areas and raise the groundwater table, he maintained.

To a question, Mr Ghufran said the 10 storage ponds are being constructed along with the recharge wells at a cost of Rs7.7 billion. “On completion of three ponds last year, a sum amounting to Rs600 to Rs800 million was spent,” he said, adding that the completion of the under-construction ponds will take a maximum one month more.

Meanwhile, in a briefing given to housing, urban development and public health engineering department’s secretary, the Wasa MD said that the construction work on the Gaddafi Stadium underground water tank has almost been completed, while the Cooper Road tank nears 98 percent completion and civil works at Karim Park tank is also 97pc complete.

He said that the Garden Town tank is 96pc complete, while Iqbal Town’s has reached 94pccompletion. Similarly, the tanks at Waris Road and Railway Station are 91pc complete, whilethe Tajpura tank has reached 65pc completion. The work on the Shama Road water tank stands at 45pc, he says.

“With introduction of modern engineering solutions in Lahore, these storage tanks reflect the government’s innovative and future-oriented priorities. In the past, urban flooding was considered a routine in the city. However, the present government has taken practical steps to ensure a sustainable solution to this long-standing issue,” says Secretary retired Capt Noorul Amin Mengal.

He says in the coming year, more water storage tanks would be constructed, not only in Lahore, but also in other cities, to ensure better management of rainwater and mitigation of urban flooding.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2026