CHAKWAL, Jan 23: A sewerage scheme for Chakwal, inaugurated on June 26, 2007, has been moving at snail’s pace.

Aimed at improving the poor sewerage and sanitation system in Chakwal city, the then district government headed by District Nazim Sardar Ghulam Abbas had planned to launch the project.

With an estimated cost of Rs184.798 million, the contract was warded to Public Health Department.

The project was to complete on June 26, 2009 but still lies incomplete.

Due to poor sewerage system the drains remain choked and give foul smell, and in rain the situation gets worsened and the sewage floods streets and major roads.

The project hit snags when the Public Health Department purchased the sewer pipes but did not get No Objection Certificate (NOC) from National Highway Authority to dig the road.

The pipes were lying scattered on the roads. Some of them have been stolen while some have been used as bridges by the citizens.

“We are not getting funds properly”, an officer of Public Health Department said, adding funds are being issued in instalments and they are not issued in time. “If the pace of work remains so, the project would not be completed even till the end of this year”, he lamented.

Former District Nazim Sardar Ghulam Abbas said that he wanted to lay best sewerage system in the city and the work on the project was started during his tenure.

“It seems that serving people is not the priorities of the present setup and the whole politics runs around police stations and court,” he observed.

He said that he launched this project after consulting all stakeholders and it was decided that the project was to be divided into three categories to dispose of the sewage of the city in a better way.

When contacted, the executive engineer of Public Health Department, Bashir Bhatti, said that his department was trying its best to complete the project. “We are facing some financial problems but I hope that the project would complete very soon,” he maintained. He admitted that the work was delayed as NHA issued NOC late.