Nine years on, Khanpur Dam water project incomplete.

RAWALPINDI -- Phase three of the Khanpur Dam water supply project has yet to be completed, nine years after it was launched, and the water shortage in the cantonment areas may continue this year as well.

The Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB), the executing agency for the Rs800 million project, has failed to complete the project in nine years because of slow funding from the federal government.

More than 10pc of the work on the project is still pending. The RCB sought Rs40m in financial assistance from the government to complete the work, but the request was not entertained.

A senior RCB official told Dawn that the government did not release funding and this would delay the project further. He said that if the government releases the money, the RCB could complete the project by the end of this fiscal year.

He said many letters were written to the Ministry of Finance through the RCB's parent department, the Ministry of Defence, but no response had been received yet.

The delay in the project would create problems for residents, who will have to face a shortage of water in the coming days, he added.

The official said that all the underground reservoirs and overhead tanks that are part of the project have been built, but the main supply line has not been connected to the network. There is only 10pc of work left, but because of the shortage of funds it remains incomplete.

Meanwhile, the Rawalpindi and Chaklala cantonment boards have been rationing water, and most residents of the cantonments have been buying water from private...