GILGIT, March 25: The Japanese government has donated Rs4.5 million for a water supply project at Ganish in central Hunza.

The officials of the Ganish Welfare Organization, a local community-based organization (CBO), told Dawn that work on the proposed project would commence with the release of funds next month.

They hoped that with the completion of the project, at least 400 households would get direct access to clean drinking water.

The facility would go a long way in reducing the incidence of water-borne diseases in the locality.

They added that in order to stop land erosions by the rivers in summer, the government had prepared a plan for the construction of dikes along the riverbanks at Ganish, the confluence of rivers Hunza and Nagar.

They added that a sports stadium, computer centre, medical centre and a vocational institute for women would be set up in the near future for which, they said, the government had promised them adequate funds.