Punjab WASAs ordered to finalise monsoon readiness by May 31 deadline

Punjab Water and Sanitation Authority (PWSA) Director General Tayyab Farid Saturday ordered all five Water and Sanitation Agencies (WASAs) to finalise monsoon preparations by May 31, emphasising urgent cleaning of sewer lines, repairs to heavy machinery, and setup of monsoon camps, APP reported.

Presiding over a performance review meeting attended by all WASA managing directors, Farid stressed: “Revenue recovery is critical to maintaining water and sewerage services.”

Cleaning of sewer lines and drains, repair of heavy machinery, timely installation of monsoon camps, as well as training exercises and identification of low-lying areas should be carried out expeditiously so that all arrangements were in place well before the pre-monsoon season which started on June 15, he added.

The PWSA director general was presiding over a meeting to review the performance of all Water and Sanitation Agencies (WASAs) and their preparations for the monsoon season.

The meeting was attended by the managing directors and officers of all five WASAs, a WASA Rawalpindi news release said. Tayyab Farid also reviewed the revenue recovery of all WASAs in detail. He said the performance of WASAs depended on revenue recovery. They needed to pay special attention to the revenue recovery so that water and sewerage facilities could be provided to the citizens together, he stressed. WASA Rawalpindi Managing Director Muhammad Saleem Ashraf , in his briefing, said the WASA Rawalpindi was working rapidly on cleaning sewer lines in preparation for the monsoon, which would be completed before May 31. The Agency had heavy machinery such as sucker and jetting machines, and dewatering pumps to deal with the flood situation, which were in functional condition, he added.

He said the Punjab Government had been requested for funds for cleaning the Leh Nullah and 15 other major 15 drains of the city.

He further said that the WASA Rawalpindi had completed the identification of low-lying areas in collaboration with the district administration and trained staff would be deployed at those points with heavy machinery during the rains.

Like every year before the monsoon, he said, a training exercise plan had been prepared with Rescue 1122 and other organisations, under which mock exercises would be conducted at Leh Nullah and Rawal Dam.

Moreover, he added, five monsoon camps would be set up across the city where staff would be present with heavy machinery round the clock during the rains, he added.

A control room was being established at the WASA head-office from where city-wide monitoring as well as the process of registering citizens’ complaints would be carried out, he said.

As regards the revenue recovery, the WASA Rawalpindi MD said that the Agency had recovered Rs 1.7 billion against the target of Rs 1.57 billion last year.

The revenue recovery for the ongoing year had been estimated at Rs 2.3 billion, while keeping in view the current recovery position, they were expecting a surplus recovery, he added.