RAWALPINDI, Aug 1: The district government has prepared a Rs250 million project for improving the sewerage and water supply system in the city.

The project, for which funds have been provided on the direction of President Gen Pervez Musharraf, has been sent to the Punjab government’s planning and development department for approval.

District Nazim Raja Tariq Kiani said the project would help lessen the problem of choked sewers and water shortages.

Under the project, new sewers would be laid in the localities lacking the facility, outdated sewers replaced and new water pipelines laid. In most parts of the city, decades old sewers can no longer bear the pressure of the growing population and frequently get choked and overflow because of their small size, posing problems for the people living around. Such sewers, Mr Kiani said, would be replaced.

The water supply lines have also become rusty and leaky at places. This not only results in wastage of water, which is scare in summers, but also results in the mixing of sewage with water. Water-borne diseases, particularly gastroenteritis, have been common in the city because of the supply of contaminated water. At several places, the water supply line passes beneath the sewer, adding to the gravity of the situation. A sizable share of funds under the project has been earmarked for connecting the Committee Chowk and Bagh Sardaran tanks with the main supply line. This, Mr Kiani said, would improve the water supply situation. He said the Bagh Sardaran tank had been lying unused because of lack of supply line.