PESHAWAR, April 14: A recent resolution of the provincial assembly, calling upon the government to operate all tubewells that have been handed over to community-based organizations (CBOs ), is unlikely to be implemented, official sources told Dawn.
The resolution has asked the provincial government to take back all those tubewells and water supply schemes which were handed over to the CBOs and operate them on its own in view of the failure of these organizations to run these projects satisfactorily.
The unanimously-adopted resolution has urged the government to run tubewells in the public sector to ensure that an effective water supply system is in place across the province. However, the resolution stands little chance of being implemented because of differences within various departments.
The sources said there were over 180 tubewells which were being operated by the CBOs in different parts of the province. These tubewells were handed over by the government in line with the promises it made with international donor agencies which had provided funds for their installation.
Several hundreds tubewells were installed under the now abandoned social action programme and community infrastructure project in the province which were required to be handed over to the community-based organizations as part of the donor agencies' strategy to empowercommunities at the grass-roots level.
However, in several parts of the province, performance of these communities to operate and maintain tubewells remained far from satisfactory, the sources said. In several cases, the communities failed to pay monthly electricity charges as a result of which a large amount accrued against them as arrears.
The Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda), said the sources, had also disconnected electricity supply to some of the tubewells because of non-payment of dues. Besides, at certain places, the communities failed to recover monthly water charges (revenue) from consumers which led to the piling up of dues and leaving them with no funds to maintain these machines and as a result tubewells went out of order.
The sources said the PA resolution had elicited a mixed response from provincial departments with some of them showing their readiness to implement it, while others resisting the move because of financial implications involved in the matter.
There are about 505 tubewells which were required to be handed over to the communities, out of which, 180 have already been given in the control of local people. The sources said the finance department was likely to resist the move of taking back tubewells on the ground that it would put additional financial burden on the provincial government.
Besides, it would also be against the spirit of the government's commitments with international donor agencies that financed their establishment. The sources said that an amount of Rs100 million in arrears stood against the tubewells which were being run in the private sector after their handing over to the communities.
"If these schemes are taken back, the provincial government would also have to bear the burden of arrears outstanding against them," said an official. However, the communications and works department and the public health engineering department had supported the assembly's resolution, the sources said.
The public health engineering department had formulated a proposal requesting the government to provide it with additional funds to bring these tubewells in running condition after taking them back, the sources added.
"This would add to the financial problems of the provincial government as the department has requested for a considerable amount for repair and maintenance," said an official.