ISLAMABAD: While multi-billion development projects are under construction in the capital, the most important issue of water seems to have been put on the back burner.

Islamabad is a water scarce city mainly because of the rapid growth in its population due to urbanisation and migration of people from other parts of the country. During the last over two decades, no new source of water has been explored to bridge the growing gap between demand and supply.

Though several announcements were made in the past to start projects such as construction of the proposed Chirrah, Shahdara, Chinyot dams, extension of Khanpur Dam and above all the Ghazi Barotha project to bring water from Indus River, but the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and successive governments could not translate the announcements into reality.

CDA officials said the last water project - Khanpur Dam - was launched in the '90s. At that time, the population of the city was around 600,000, which in the census 2017 was recorded as 2.2 million. Now it is believed to be around three million.

Meanwhile, the CDA has been carrying out construction work on five new sectors – I-15, 1-12, E-12, C-14 and C-15 - besides launching new apartment schemes. Similarly, businesses of private housing societies and apartment buildings are also thriving but without focus on the future water needs.

The officials said in summers, residents of Islamabad faced water shortage and if steps were not taken in coming years, the city could face a major crisis-like situation.

They said projects of new roads, bridges and flyovers were also needed but due focus should be paid on water issues as well.

CDA’s own documents showed that the water demand in 2020 was about 215 million gallon per day (mgd) and projected to be about 278 mgd in 2030 and 411 mgd in 2040.

Currently, the CDA has three main sources - Simly Dam, Khanpur Dam and tubewells - and all these sources are providing around 70 mgd, which is far less than the requirement.

On the other hand, people also extract water through boring, but the groundwater table is depleting fast. There is also no proper enforcement of bylaws regarding rainwater harvesting and every year millions of gallons of water end up in Nullah Leh.

CDA officials said there was an urgent need for exploring new sources of water and construction of small dams. They said that the proposed Ghazi Barotha project for bringing water from the Indus River was a long-term solution which would provide 100 mgd water each to Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

The Indus River project was initiated by CDA in 2005 and a consultant was hired. Initially, the project was planned for meeting the water demand of Islamabad. However, later the water demands of Rawalpindi and its cantonments were also included in the project’s planning and design. The project was planned to provide 655 mgd by the year 2050 in three phases. Under Phase-I, 200 mgd water was to be conducted for the twin cities. According to the initial PC-I of 2006, the project cost was Rs37billion and in 2009 it was estimated to be Rs44 billion.

The officials said water apportionment for Rawalpindi and Islamabad from the Indus River system for the project Phase-I was approved by the Council of Common Interests in the year 2011 and 2016, respectively. However, further progress couldn’t be made mainly due to non-allocation of funds.

Under PSDP 2018-19, Rs500 million were allocated for the project, however, the project was dropped in the revised PSDP 2018-19. It was then proposed that the project should be executed through public-private partnership.

Some funds were also earmarked for the feasibility study and designing of the project. The CDA in November 2021 prepared a consolidated PC-I worth Rs91 billion which was submitted to the Ministry of Interior. In this fiscal year, no funds have been allocated for the project.

When contacted, Deputy Director General Water Managements Sardar Khan Zimri said the CDA had been taking steps to overcome the water issue.

He said old and leaking water lines were being replaced and efforts were underway to explore new sources, including construction of small dams. He said around 20 new tubewells and 70 recharging wells had been installed at various places to improve the underground water table.

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2023