ISLAMABAD, April 19: Federal Minister for Science and Technology Chaudhry Nouraiz Shakoor on Tuesday said Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz would soon announce a mega project for provision of safe drinking water in the country within the next five years. He was speaking at the concluding session of a two-day workshop on “National plan of action for arsenic mitigation (NPAM-2005-09)” organized by the National Council for Research in Water Resources (PCRWR), the ministry of science and technology and Unicef.

He said in the first phase water quality testing labs and water filtration plants would be set up at each district.

The plan would cover the tehsil headquarters in the second phase, while in the third phase it would be extended to the union council level.

The minister said the government was fully cognizant of its responsibilities and would continue its efforts for mitigating the arsenic problem.

Considering the health hazards of arsenic contamination, the ministry of science has approved Rs3 billion projects for provision of safe drinking water to the masses, he said.

Mr Shakoor said arsenic contamination of water resources was a challenge and could only be fully addressed by an integrated approach by all governmental, non-governmental and private sector organizations.

“We are also introducing a quality control bill in the National Assembly aimed to provide standard goods to the people and check those suffering from contamination,” he added.

He said the goals and targets set out so far were in line with the millennium development goals, the government’s national water strategy, Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper and other international commitments.

Chairman PCRWR Dr Akram Kahlown said water pollution had become a serious problem in the country. About 40 per cent of the reported health problems were directly or indirectly related to water, he added.

He thanked Unicef for providing technical and financial support to the PCRWR and hoped that the workshop would prove to be a vital step in setting the direction for future planning and implementing sustainable arsenic mitigation programmes.

He said to solve arsenic problem, the PCRWR was working on various projects to provide clean and safe drinking water to the masses.