RAWALPINDI, Jan 21: A World Bank loan of $150 million to the Punjab government for improving governance in the big cities of the province has revived hopes of the City District Government of Rawalpindi (CDGR) to realise its development plans for the garrison city.

Sources in the CDGR said the hopes of improving vital services to the Rawalpindi citizens had depressed after the Punjab government failed to keep its promises to provide aid package to the city, like it granted to some other big cities.

Half of the $23.9 million kept for Rawalpindi in the World Bank’s Punjab City Governance Improvement Project would be spent on improving the water supply and sewerage systems and the rest on upgrading the existing roads in the city, the sources said.

Last year, the CDGR re-arranged Rawalpindi’s urban limits to qualify for the loan. Now the urban area covers 73 union councils against the 46 union councils in the past.

A CDGR official told Dawn that the urban wing of Punjab’s Planning and Development Department has formed a company for releasing the funds for the World Bank-aided projects in five big cities - Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan, Gujranwala and Rawalpindi - through their DCOs - the district coordination officers.

Rawalpindi’s district government had many development schemes ready but had been waiting for funds. Work on them is likely to be launched in March, he said.

Already, the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) has submitted its plan for procurement of vehicles for water supply and sanitation to the CDGR. “WASA will improve water supply system to the expanded urban area of Rawalpindi,” he added.

According to him the World Bank has asked the Punjab government to prepare a three-year rolling plan for the five big cities and provide it details of their assets,” DCO Saqib Zafar said talking to Dawn.

According to him the Punjab City Governance Improvement Project aimed at improving the infrastructure of the big cities.

“No new road will be built with the World Bank loan, only the existing ones improved,” he informed.

He expects the first installment of $4.3 million to be delivered to the CDGR in February. That would be followed by $4.8 million in 2014, $6.7 million in 2015 and $8.1 million in 2016.

Some of the loan would be spent on renovating the government buildings now in bad shape and being surveyed.

He has asked the Rawalpindi Development Authority and the Water and Sanitation Agency to prepare schemes in their fields and start implementing them in March.