LAHORE, April 17: Of 1,600 rural water supply schemes to be executed under the Punjab Community Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project by 2007, the public health engineering department has completed 800.
Punjab public health engineering minister Mushtaq Ahmad Kiani said this while inaugurating a seminar on ‘Community participation in water supply projects’ here on Monday. He said Rs10 billion had been spent on the schemes so far.
He said there were 250 ongoing rural water schemes in the province when the department was revived in November 2003 after being devolved. More than 500 new schemes had been launched with the financial assistance of the Asian Development Bank and the community participation.
He said 80 per cent work had been completed on 814 ongoing schemes, and 300 schemes would be completed next year and handed over to the communities for maintenance. The department had received a Rs6 billion budget this year and would receive an equal amount next year as well.
He said need for involvement of the community in the projects was felt to ensure continued maintenance of the schemes after completion. Of 5,000 water supply schemes executed in rural areas during the past 55 years, 1,000 had become inoperational owing to lack of maintenance, he said.
He said the department had also established libraries under its health and hygiene education project and provided training to 610 community-based organisations under it. A small loan programme had also been launched in rural areas and 183 needy people advanced loans of Rs1.716 million in 44 villages under it after vocational training. Loans amounting to Rs600,300 had been paid back already.
He said the project had not only advanced small loans from its own resources, but also helped 523 rural organisations contact financial institutions which had provided loans totalling Rs10.06 million to them so far.
ADB’s project implementation officer Raza Farrukh said the Punjab Community, Water Supply and Sanitation Project would be the only rural water supply project to be completed in accordance with the schedule during the past 20 years. He said sharing of the cost of projects by the community gave a sense of ownership to the people.
Punjab Planning and Development Board chairman Salman Ghani said need for the involvement of communities in execution and maintenance of schemes on a cost-sharing basis was felt when a sizable number of schemes became inoperative some time after being commissioned. There were doubts about the success of the experiment, but it had proved successful and a large number of schemes were being managed by the communities now.
Public health department special secretary Mazhar Ali Khan said tehsil and town municipal administrations would be involved in identification of the rural water supply schemes. A cell would also be created for monitoring the progress of the schemes.
Project director Zahid Husain briefed the participants on the aims and objectives of the project and achievements made under it.