SIALKOT
Six years have passed but there was no implementation of the then Punjab government's plan to ensure smooth provision of potable water to Sialkot city thus the people are suffering from several water-borne diseases.
They have to use contaminated water being supplied by the Sialkot Tehsil Municipal Administration through rusted pipelines. The water being supplied has already been declared contaminated and unhygienic by the Public Health Engineering Department and the Health Department. In 2007, on the special directives of then Punjab chief minister Pervaiz Elahi, the department had chalked out a plan for bringing betterment in Sialkot city's decades-old sanitation and drainage system.
The rectification of the system has become vital for changing the rusted pipelines of Sialkot city by laying new one, and giving new connections of water to applicants in active collaboration with Sialkot TMA, adding to the present number of 35,000 connections.
The Sialkot district coordination officer said that the multi-phased programme would be started in Sialkot city within the next two months. The special meters have been affixed on all the newly installed water supply connections. The installation of meters would be helpful in reducing misuse of water in Sialkot city, he hoped.
The officials concerned said that the city had been divided into 10 main zones for launching the grand project. The PML-Q provincial government had also announced to establish hypo chlorine and sucker machines at all the 85 tube wells working under the auspices of Sialkot TMA.
He said under the multi-phased plan, special training will be imparted to the people. The quality of the water would be monitored regularly through chemical and bacterial examinations, he said and added that the total cost of the project was estimated Rs160 million to Rs320 million. The mega project is now only solution to the problem to control the larger scale spread of water-borne diseases in the city's residential, commercial and industrial areas, he said. The officials said that the project was still in the pipeline while the TMA had no sufficient funds for implementation of the project.