SIALKOT - Punjab Intermediate Cities Improvement Investment Programme (PICIIP) Programme Director Muhammad Akhtar Mahmood Abbasi, along with his team and a consultant of Asian Development Bank, visited project sites of Kashmir Road, Roras Road, Marala Road and Khadim Ali Road in Sialkot and inspected the construction work at water and sanitation scheme.
The project managers and contractors briefed the programme director on the progress of the project. The programme director stressed jazzing up the construction work and completing the project on time and assured the contracting company of immediate solution to the problems faced in this regard.
The programme director said that Kashmir Road would be restored in September and the rest of the roads would be restored as soon as the construction work was completed.
The programme director said that the Punjab government had started construction work on water supply and modern sewerage system worth Rs9 billion in Sialkot, which was part of Rs17 billion package (sewerage, water supply, solid waste management, traffic management and upgrading of parks) for the development of the city. The new system would also provide clean drinking water to about 322,000 people.
The project would replace about 260-km old and rusty pipelines and install 15 new tube-wells, 7 new filtration plants and 5 new water reservoirs in the next 2 years, he said. The programme director said a modern drainage system would provide sanitation facilities to 875,000 people and a new sewerage line of about 72-km would be laid to improve drainage.
In addition, the existing five small pumping stations for waste water are being removed and two main pumping stations are being set up which will also reduce the electricity cost of the corporation.
He said a waste water treatment plant will be set up with a cost of Rs2 billion to prevent water loss and recycle waste-water so that it can be used for irrigation and other purposes.
The official said that under the project of Local Government and Community Development Department, modern machinery worth $3,491,624 has been provided to the Metropolitan Corporation while the remaining machinery worth $314,815 will be provided soon to improve the sanitation situation in the city. He said three parks had been upgraded under the Punjab Intermediate Cities Improvement Investment Programme with a cost of Rs308 million. These include Ladies and Children Park, Abdul Hakeem Park and Sialkot Fort Park. While the development work is underway in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park.