Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday directed deputy commissioners of all districts to identify areas with unsafe drinking water and submit immediate reports as the provincial government reviewed measures to restore and expand access to clean drinking water across Punjab.
Chairing a special meeting on the rehabilitation of water filtration plants, the chief minister instructed district administrations to identify localities where residents have to travel long distances to obtain safe drinking water. She also ordered an assessment of the drinking water requirements in areas facing acute shortages.
The meeting was informed that bottling plants had been made operational in the worst-affected districts, including Khushab, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bahawalpur and Rahim Yar Khan. Bottled drinking water will be transported to affected communities through trucks. A digital report on the Khushab bottling plant was presented, stating that it has the capacity to produce 50,000 bottles of water per hour.
Maryam Nawaz sought immediate reports from the deputy commissioners of Khushab, Dera Ghazi Khan, Rahim Yar Khan and Bahawalpur regarding the prevailing drinking water situation in their districts.
The meeting also approved the establishment of four additional bottling plants under the CM Punjab Clean Drinking Water Project. Officials informed the meeting that 2,258 water filtration plants would be constructed across the province, while cluster-based plants equipped with water tanks would also be established to improve the supply of clean drinking water.
In the first phase, 22 cluster-based plants will be set up in Bahawalpur Division and 10 in Rajanpur.
She directed the authorities to immediately address complaints regarding non-functional and faulty water filtration plants and instructed deputy commissioners to ensure the restoration and operationalisation of damaged or closed filtration facilities in their respective districts.
