ISLAMABAD, Oct 18: The government is unlikely to meet an ambitious target set under multi-billion ‘clean drinking water for all’ project to provide water purification plants at the union council level by the end of 2007.

Taking notice of the slow progress, sources said, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had directed the Ministry for Industries and Production to take control of the project from the environment ministry.

During a presentation given by the environment minister on the project, President Pervez Musharraf expressed disappointment over slow progress and asked the prime minister to speed up work, the sources said.

Presiding over a meeting held to review goals and targets of the Environment Ministry, the prime minister had reiterated his government’s commitment to provide clean drinking water to every union council by 2007.

The meeting was informed that under phase-I of the project, 554 water purification plants had been installed in various parts of the country and the rest would be installed under phase II.

Under the project, 6,035 plants of different capacities (500/1000/2000 gallons per hour) would be installed, one each in a union council, according to the requirements of the population.

Various bilateral and multilateral donor agencies were supporting the government’s endeavours in this regard.

Plans are under way to extend the safe drinking water project to the village-level by introducing low-cost water purification methodologies. The government aims to provide access to clean drinking water to 93 per cent of the population by 2015.