ISLAMABAD: Following an increase in the fish mortality in Rawal Dam, the city managers on Sunday decided to revive the stalled project to install sewage treatment plants in the catchment area as untreated municipal waste flowing into the reservoir raised serious questions about the efficiency of the civic agency.

The failure of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to install sewage treatment plants has resulted in round-the-clock contamination of the reservoir with untreated sewage and solid waste making its way to the lake via streams, particularly Korang Nullah.

This untreated water, apparently, is the main reason behind the fish die-off in the dam while water level in the reservoir also continues to plummet.

The federal government had a couple of years ago launched a multi-billion project to install sewage treatment plants in catchment areas, but due to funding issue the project could not be executed.

Sewage treatment plants could not be installed due to lack of funds, says official

The government earmarked a token fund for the over Rs6 billion project, which were not utilised by the CDA. For the fiscal year 2024-25, once again a token amount of Rs255 million has been allocated. However, after reports of the fish mortality the city managers visited the dam on Sunday and decided to start the project.

Chief Commissioner and CDA Chairman Mohammad Ali Randhawa directed the CDA team headed by Member Environment and Administration Talat Gondal to visit the Rawal Dam and probe the matter.

The team along with officials from the environment protection department took samples which have been sent to Environment Protection Department, the Punjab Fisheries Department and the Fisheries Research Institute of NARC Islamabad to ascertain the actual facts of the mortality of the fish. These three departments would submit their reports within two days.

According to a press release issued by CDA, it was observed that mortality took place in the last week of July and the dead fish had been removed and the situation has improved.

“Furthermore, CDA has initiated the process and invited expression of interest for sewerage treatment plant upstream to address the issue on the permanent basis and prevent the contamination of water, an everlasting solution of this chronic issue,” the statement said.

It said occurrence of fish mortality was closely being monitored and reported by the watch and ward staff.

Earlier on Saturday, fish die-off raised serious concerns as the water level in the reservoir continued to plummet. The situation prompted action from Pakistan Environment Protection Agency (Pak-EPA).

In response to the incident, an inspection team led by Dr Zaigham Abbas, director (lab/NEQS) and Ashiq Nawaz, director (EIA/Mont), had collected water samples from Kashmir Chowk Point, Diplomatic Enclave near Lake View Point, AQ Khan Road Korang point, centre of the dam and the spillway point.

On-site testing was conducted to measure crucial water quality indicators, including dissolved oxygen (DO), pH, turbidity, total dissolved solids (TDS), electrical conductivity (EC) and water temperature.

According to Pak-EPA, these parameters were essential for understanding factors affecting aquatic life in the dam. The environmental watchdog said the samples had been sent to the CLEAN laboratory of Pak-EPA for chemical and microbial analysis.

It may be noted that the over Rs6 billion project was planned a couple of years ago under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) to be funded by the federal government. However, the government allocated merely Rs255 million in the previous fiscal year. Since the money was not enough to start the project, the CDA sought Rs3.5 billion for the current fiscal year but it got only Rs255 million again for the year 2024-25.

An official said it was an Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) mode project under which no escalation charge was allowed. This means adequate funding is required before the launch of the project. He said tenders had been floated a few days ago and it was decided that CDA will request the government for more funds.

Under the project, the civic authority would establish treatment plants in the catchment areas namely Bari Imam, Shahdara and Banigala.

The issue of untreated sewage had also landed in the Supreme Court a few years ago and the court had asked the relevant authorities to resolve the matter.

“The contaminated water in Korang and other nullahs [which feed Rawal Dam] is a major issue and should be resolved on a priority basis,” said an official, adding sewage from various settlements in Murree, Bari Imam, Bhara Kahu and Banigala were a primary source of contamination of the reservoir.

In January this year, tenders were floated but construction firms did not show any interest due to concerns about funding. Once started, according to PC-I, the project will be completed in 14 months.

Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2024