The Capital Development Authority (CDA) will be constructing two new dams to address the water shortage issue faced by the residents of the federal capital.
The CDA Board has green-lighted the hiring of a consultant firm that will carry out a feasibility study and provide a report assessing the viability of the proposed dam projects. The Water Wing of CDA has already prepared the terms of reference (ToRs) for this purpose.
Following the approval of the Chairman, the civic authority will invite tenders under Section 42F of the PPRA rules. However, only government consulting firms, such as NESPAK and Army engineering institutions, will be eligible to participate in the tendering process.
The proposed dams are Chiniot Dam, which will be constructed upstream of the Simly Dam, and Shahdara Dam. Simly Dam has seen a significant decrease of 33% in its storage capacity over time and it currently stores 6,881 million gallons of water.
Chiniot Dam will have a water storage capacity of 18 to 20 million gallons of water. On the other hand, Shahdara Dam will have a storage capacity of 6 million gallons of water. The urban areas of Islamabad get 80 million gallons every day, which is far less than its required 125 million gallons.
This number further decreases when the water level in Simly Dam and Khanpur Dam falls. At the moment, Simly Dam supplies 28 million gallons of water, which increases to 32 million when it’s full.
Additionally, Khanpur dam supplies 9 to 9.5 million gallons of water. Tube wells are responsible for the supply of 30 million gallons of water while the Rawal Dam for 2 million. Moreover, the total water supply from Shahdara, Saidpur, and Noorpur is five million gallons of water.
Brilliant
Very good step to overcome the water shortage issues