ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has been directed to expedite the Shahdara Dam project and replace rusted water pipelines.

The civic agency is also set to take steps to bring illegal housing societies under its regulatory framework.

If all goes as planned, construction of the Shahdara Dam project is likely to begin within the next few months. The CDA will also give illegal housing societies an opportunity to come under its regulations by fulfilling the required legal and planning requirements.

“We are working on two new dams for Islamabad, while rusted pipelines will also be replaced,” Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said recently during his visit to the under-construction service road along the Islamabad Expressway.

Interior minister orders replacement of rusted water pipelines, says illegal schemes will be given a chance to regularise before action

The CDA has been focusing on road infrastructure and other mega projects worth billions of rupees, including a cricket stadium and a new convention centre, while water-related projects have received comparatively less attention.

However, Mr Naqvi said water issues were also being prioritised.

Sources said that following his remarks, the interior minister chaired a meeting on Friday on proposed dam projects and directed the CDA to begin work as soon as possible. He also ordered the launch of a project to replace rusted water pipelines, a step he believes will save 20 per cent of the city’s water supply.

According to sources, the meeting decided that construction of the Shahdara Dam should begin first, before work on the proposed Chinot and Dotara dams.

“A consultant for this dam project has already been hired. After finalisation of the design, we will float tenders to start the project,” a source said, adding that construction could begin within the next few months.

CDA officials said the dam would be built in the Shahdara area and would have the capacity to store 10 million gallons of water per day for Islamabad.

They said that after completion of the design, the PC-I would be presented to the CDA’s Development Working Party (DWP) for approval before tenders were invited. Officials added that the CDA would have to acquire more than 30 acres of land for the project. The proposed Chinot Dam will be built in the catchment area of Simly Dam for Islamabad, while Dotara Dam will be constructed upstream of Khanpur Dam with a proposed combined capacity of 72 million gallons per day (mgd) for Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

Residents of Islamabad have long faced water shortages, as the CDA currently supplies around 70mgd from its three main sources against an estimated demand of 220mgd. The rural population largely depends on bore water and other small sources.

Over the past three decades, no major new water source has been developed despite a sharp increase in the city’s population, resulting in severe water shortages. The underground water table has also declined in many areas. In several localities, particularly Sector H-13 and Ghouri Town, residents depend entirely on water tankers.

Earlier, during a media briefing on Thursday at the under-construction dual carriageway being built along the eastern service road of the Islamabad Expressway, the interior minister said that once the new road was completed to serve local traffic, the existing Islamabad Expressway would be declared a motorway.

He said that although the PC-I envisaged completion of the project within one year, the CDA would complete it in the shortest possible time.

Mr Naqvi also said there were 199 illegal housing societies in Islamabad and that CDA teams were working on each of them.

“We will give these schemes an option of registration [to come under regulations]. We will bring them into our regulatory framework so they can fulfil deficiencies and remove illegalities. We will certainly take action and impose fines as well,” he said, adding that these illegal schemes had been established before he assumed office.

“After taking charge, I directed the CDA to take steps to stop unauthorised construction. We are monitoring construction through satellite,” he added.

Stalled sectors and affectees

Mr Naqvi said special attention would be given to stalled residential sectors. He said development work in Sector C-14 had been completed, while work in the remaining stalled sectors would be completed this year and next year so that allottees could take possession of their plots.

He also said issues relating to compensation for affectees, people whose land had been acquired and who were entitled to compensation in cash or plots, would be resolved on a priority basis.

The minister said F-9 Park would be upgraded on the pattern of Hyde Park, Islamabad would be made greener, and a new forest would be developed along Margalla Avenue.

He added that a sewage treatment plant would also be established to prevent sewage from flowing into Rawal Dam, which is currently heavily polluted.

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2026