RAWALPINDI: More than 60pc areas of the garrison city are without a sewerage system but the Punjab government approved a sanitation project only for Shamsabad and adjoining areas falling in the constituencies of PP-14 and PP-6.

A senior official of the City District Government Rawalpindi told Dawn that the rusty and outdated sewerage system laid in the downtown areas in the late 70s needed replacement.

But the project was approved only for PP-14 and PP-6 where the PML-N won the provincial assembly seats in the 2013 elections.

He said under the Rawalpindi Environment Improvement Project, which was abandoned midway in 2008, new pipelines had to be laid in Satellite Town, Khayaban-i-Sir Syed and the eastern side of Murree Road such as Sadiqabad and Cha Sultan.

The Punjab government approves sanitation project only for Shamsabad and adjoining areas

But the project was abandoned before completion due to political reasons.

He said instead of completing the project, the provincial government spent the money in areas on its own choice.

He said in Satellite Town and Khayaban-i-Sir Syed, the sewerage lines were laid in the 60s and 70s, respectively. With the passage of time, each of the sewers got overloaded due to the increase in the population.

He said most of the sewers remained choked as these were of 150 millimetre diameter. He said there was a need to replace the old lines with 60-inch diameter pipes to ensure cleanliness in the residential areas.

In Raja Bazaar and adjoining areas, he said, the sewerage lines had been laid in the 80s and early 90s which have now become ineffective.

He said in the monsoon season the rainwater accumulated in these localities and created problems for the residents. When contacted, Wasa Managing Director Raja Shaukat Mehmood said the government had started the Rs200 million project in PP-14 to lay new sewerage lines as there was no such facility.

“For PP-6, the government will release Rs350 million to lay new sewerage lines under the Punjab Annual Development Programme 2016-17,” he said.

About the replacement of the sewerage lines in Raja Bazaar, Satellite Town and Khayaban-i-Sir Syed, he said these localities already had the facility but needed replacement but the government wanted to first lay the sewerage lines in those areas which did not have such a facility.

But the official agreed that the sewerage lines in Raja Bazaar, Satellite Town and Khayaban-i-Sir Syed were undersized.

“There is a need to lay 18-inch diameter sewerage lines in these areas instead of the six inch as it cannot handle the burden of the sewage,” he said.

Published in Dawn September 20th, 2016