RAWALPINDI: The Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) on Thursday asked the project implementation team to start the Rawal Dam filtration plant upgradation scheme under the Developing Resilient Environment and Advancing Municipal Services (Dreams-I), funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The ADB provided $114 million in a loan to the Punjab government for four mega projects to provide clean water to the residents of the garrison city and the work started in October 2024. The meeting chaired by Wasa Managing Director Muhammad Saleem Ashraf reviewed the progress of the water supply project for Rawalpindi.

“This project of public importance will be completed in two years instead of the stipulated period of three years,” said Managing Director Muhammad Saleem Ashraf after he was briefed by contractors and officials working on the LOT-4 project. LOT-4 is a component of the Dreams-I project under which an additional pipeline line from Rawal Dam to Rawalpindi will be laid to supply an additional 5 million gallons per day (MGD) and the filtration plant will be upgraded and rehabilitated.

Two new heavy pumps will also be installed to supply 8 MGD of water from Khanpur Dam besides a plan to provide round-the-clock water to three union councils in Khayaban-i-Sir Syed.

MD says project should be completed in two instead of three years

Regarding the replacement of machinery at the Rawal Lake filtration plant, the Wasa chief said that the work in this regard should be started soon. The mechanical and electrical experts should start working immediately and review the building and other civil works so that work could be started within a week to repair the existing infrastructure of the filtration plant, he said.

The Wasa MD further said that the repair and extension of the boundary wall should be started soon. In this regard, Wasa officials will visit the site on March 7.

The work on a pipeline crossing from Islamabad to Rawalpindi via I.J.P Road (now Karnal Sher Khan Road) was also reviewed and the MD directed Metrocon to make necessary arrangements within 10 days for the installation of the pipeline.

For new pumps at the Sangjani treatment plant, MD Ashraf directed that the process for purchasing pumps should be initiated and relevant details should be submitted within a week. The pumps should meet quality standards, and in future, preference should be given to pumps that can be easily repaired locally.

The participants of the meeting were directed that the survey work for the 3.2km main conduction line from Sector I-10 in Islamabad to Khayaban-i-Sir Syed and the distribution network in the project area should be completed within seven days.

In the meeting, it was informed that the project will be completed in three years. However, the MD directed that the project should be completed by the end of 2026. He said Wasa wanted to share the benefits of the project with the people as soon as possible.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2025