HYDERABAD, Nov 19: District Nazim Kanwar Naveed Jamil on Saturday laid the foundation stone for a large Rs650 million water supply project at the old filter plant which is scheduled to be completed in 18 months.

Addressing the stone-laying ceremony, he said that the entire population would get filtered water after work on several water projects at different points in the city, which cost the district a total of Rs1.5 billion, were completed.

Even the closure of canals for repairs and desilting would not interrupt the supply, said the nazim, adding that 35,880 running pipelines of 20 to 60 inch diameter would be laid, which would take water directly from downstream Kotri barrage to the new filter plants at Hala Nako and Paretabad water works.

In the second and third phases of the project, water storage capacity of Hala Nako water works would be raised from 35 million gallons to 102 million gallon per day and that of Paretabad water works would be increased from 26 million gallons to 105 million gallons a day, he said.

He said that the project was scheduled to complete within 18 months but the consultant, contractors and the officials concerned had been directed to raise the storage capacity of Paretabad reservoir from 28mgd to 60mgd and that of Hala Nako water works from 35mgd to 76mgd by December 5 under any circumstances.