ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has decided to spend Rs2.7 billion to make an abandoned sewage treatment plant functional.

The authority announced on Sunday that the plant would be made functional within three months.

Set up in 2009 under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) and funded mainly by the French government, the plant was only in operation for a few years before it closed due to faulty equipment and insufficient flow of sewage.

The plant was supposed to treat sewage from 25 sectors and supply the treated water to public parks, playgrounds, greenbelts and agricultural land. The remaining sewage after being treated was to be disposed of in Leh Nullah.

However, the plant never functional properly and was neglected for years. No senior CDA officials visited it after inauguration, until CDA Chairman Amer Ali Ahmed made a surprise visit and learned that the facility has been abandoned for years.

“I have directed the concerned formation to make this plant functional within three months,” Mr Ahmed told Dawn on Sunday. He said that the plant will begin treating water at 25pc of its capacity, followed by 50pc in the next three months.

According to the plan, eight million gallons per day (MGD) of treated water will be used for irrigation and plantation purposes in place of water from Simly Dam, which in turn will increase the supply of water to Islamabad residents.

Mr Ahmed said that officials at the plant, who had always disliked their posting, would be given a special allowance but “they will have to perform”. He said the CDA board will decide on the volume of the allowance for plant employees soon.

Sources in the authority said that before it closed, the plant was receiving 2MGD of sewage, compared to its capacity for 17MGD. They said the plant never received sufficient sewage because of the poor quality and improperly laid network of main trucks from different sectors.

This issue was highlighted by the Auditor General of Pakistan in a 2017 audit report, which stated: “Audit observed that neither the effluent was being discharged as per PC-1 approved standards of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) nor the BOD lab test was being carried out regularly to ensure quality of water.”

It said that authenticity of the treated sewage and the discharge of the effluent into the nullah could not be ascertained. Thus, the expenditure incurred on account of the annual maintenance and operational charges amounting to millions of rupees was a waste of resources, the audit report had said.

A press release on Sunday stated: “Chairman CDA paid a surprise visit to STP yesterday. Member finance CDA, director STP, directors environment, director road maintenance and other officers were also present on the occasion.”

It said that the chairman directed that repair and maintenance work at the plant should be started immediately and all the faulty motors and systems should be repaired. He also directed for the sewerage network to be fixed immediately.

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2020