RAWALPINDI, Jun 17 (APP):The Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) has urged the residents to use water judiciously as the water level was sharply decreasing in Khanpur Dam.
Managing Director WASA Muhammad Saleem Ashraf told APP that the water level at the dam was 1,921.48 Mean Above Sea Level (MASL), last day which may cater to the needs of its beneficiaries for only 30 days.
He informed that the maximum conservation level of the dam was 1982 MASL, and the inflow was recorded at 22 cusecs against the outflow of 108 cusecs.
Saleem updated that only 7.98 per cent of storage is available presently, and if heavy rainfall does not befall within the next two weeks, the water level in the dam is expected to fall drastically to almost the dead level.
He further informed that the city’s daily water demand reached 70 Million Gallons Daily(MGD) in summer, of which it covered 30.5 MGD through 480 tube-wells, 10 MGD from the Rawal Dam and 6 MGD from the Khanpur Dam.
The city had to face a shortfall of around 7 MGD in winter, which rose to around 19 MGD during summer, he added.
For overcoming the water shortage, Saleem said work was already underway on the Developing Resilient Environment and Advancing Municipal Services (DREAMS-I) project, funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The project’s overall scope involved the treatment and transportation of 14.5 MGD water from Chahan Dam to Rawalpindi city, besides the improvement and replacement of the city’s existing water supply system, he added.
Moreover, he said, the rehabilitation and upgradation of Rawal Lake filtration plants were also in process to supply an additional 5 MGD of water to the Garrison City. Similarly, he said, two new heavy pumps were being installed at the Khanpur Dam to increase water supply to 8 MGD. The project to provide a 24/7 water supply to three union councils of Khayaban-e-Sir Syed was also underway.
“This project (DREAMS) of public importance will be completed in two years instead of the stipulated period of three years,” he added.
The MD further said that work on the Chahan Dam treatment plant had been kicked off, which was expected to provide 10 MGD of water to Rawalpindi city.
He said the feasibility of setting up the Dadhocha Dam had been included in the Punjab Annual Development Plan, which would hopefully provide 30.5 MGD water to meet the future needs of the city.
Regarding water losses, he said that water leakage and theft from the distribution network were major sources of water loss and needed to be addressed.
He said the Punjab Government had banned the establishment of new car washing stations across the province.
In compliance with the orders of the Lahore High Court, the Punjab Environmental Agency (EPA) had imposed a ban on non-essential use of underground water and violators, including car wash/ service stations, would have to face heavy fines, he warned.
