Asad Umar directs for initiating work on Khanpur dam phase II

ISLAMABAD, Jan 31 (APP): Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar Friday chaired a meeting to address the water shortage issues of Islamabad and Rawalpindi region and directed that work on Phase II of Khanpur Dam reservoir should be initiated at the earliest.

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Capital Development Authority (CDA) Ali Nawaz Awan, Aamir Mahmood Kiyani MNA, and senior officials from federal and provincial governments were present in the meeting.

Asad Umar said that government aimed to provide a sustainable solution to the water problems.

The Minister constituted a committee with representation from all the relevant federal and provincial department and directed the committee to take remedial actions and streamline the operations and maintenance activities.

He said that sufficient water sources were available around the two cities, however, water management system was weak and need to be improved.

The meeting considered a report by the Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on CDA Affairs on the current status of supply of water to Islamabad and Rawalpindi from Khanpur Dam.

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

The Minister said that ensuring supply of sufficient quality of water to the twin cities was a clear priority of the government and no effort would be spared in achieving this objective.