Body formed to streamline water supply from Khanpur Dam.

Byline: Aamir Yasin

RAWALPINDI -- A total of 120 cusecs of water is daily released from Khanpur Dam for supply to Rawalpindi and Islamabad but only 30 cusecs reach the Sangjani filtration plant due to theft and leakages on the 18-km-long waterway.

This forced the authorities concerned to curtail the share of water for the twin cities, creating a shortage, especially in Rawalpindi cantonment areas.

This information was shared with participants of a meeting held under the chairmanship of Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umer.

The meeting was attended by Rawalpindi Station Commander Brig Ijaz Qamar Kiani, Rawalpindi Cantonment Board Executive Officer Sibtain Raza, PTI leader Amir Mehmood Kiyani, CDA Chairman Amer Ali Ahmed and senior officials from the federal, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments.

Out of 120 cusecs water released from reservoir only 30 cusecs reaches Sangjani filtration plant, meeting told

The minister constituted a joint committee with representation from all the relevant federal and provincial departments and directed it to take remedial actions and streamline the operation and maintenance activities.

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Capital Development Authority (CDA) Affairs Ali Nawaz Awan will be convener of the committee while the Rawalpindi station commander and senior officials from Islamabad will be the members.

The meeting was informed that the cantonment areas were getting five million gallon daily (MGD) water from Khanpur Dam against the allocated quota of nine MGD.

The Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) was getting four MGD against its quota of six MGD and Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) six MGD against its quota of 10 MGD.

The basic issue is the leakages and theft of water in the channel from Khanpur Dam to the Sangjani filtration plant.

The meeting considered a report by the prime minister's special assistant on CDA affairs on the current status of water supply to Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

It was observed that the system was suffering from various issues due to the fact that responsibilities were dispersed across various federal and provincial departments.

The minister said ensuring supply of sufficient...