Islamabad’s Mega-Budget Sewage Treatment Project is Shutting Down
Shazia Mehboob
Islamabad: While the country’s federal capital struggles with resource shortages to mitigate the growing risks posed by environmental changes under its climate action and mitigation strategies, a multi-million-rupee project aimed at treating Islamabad’s sewage water to make it reusable is nearing closure.
The project, once considered vital for Islamabad’s environmental management, has fallen off the Capital Development Authority’s (CDA) priority list, casting doubt on its future development.
According to the documents available with us, the water treatment plant, located in Sector I-9, was established to make the city’s wastewater reusable under Islamabad’s master plan.
To achieve this, underground water channels were constructed under the master plan to collect sewage water from nearly the entire Islamabad district and direct it to the sewage treatment plant (STP) for processing.However, an STP official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, revealed that poor maintenance of the plant’s machinery, along with management issues and alleged corruption, has contributed to the decline in the water treatment plant’s capacity.
The CDA’s Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP) Deputy Director Doolat Khan has acknowledged that the plant is a crucial facility for sewage water treatment in Islamabad. However, he noted that significant issues have arisen due to damage to the underground water channels in all four phases for various reasons.
Deputy Director Khan said that the main sewage water supply line in Phase I and Phase II, specifically in the IGP Road area, was damaged by the NLC during the construction of the Metro Bus Service Route. It is a main excavation line measuring 56 inches, he added.
According to Khan, Phase III and Phase IV, which includes the G and F series sewage water channels, have also suffered damage, causing a further reduction in sewage water flow to the plant, adding that a large volume of sewage water is now diverting into nullahs and water channels, exacerbating the existing sewage management challenges in the city.
Sewage Treatment Plant History
Phases I and II of the treatment plant were constructed between 1964 and 1966 to collect water from Sectors G-4, G-5, G-6, G-7, I-8, F-5, F-6, and F-7. Phase III, which was designed to collect water from Sectors E-7, E-8, E-9, F-8, G-8, G-9, H-8, and H-9, was established in 1986 as part of an expansion program under the development project, according to our investigation.
Phase IV of the STP, covering Sectors I-9, I-10, H-10, G-10, G-11, F-10, F-11, E-10, and E-11, was constructed in 2007 when the estimated population of the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) was 725,000. However, despite the ICT population increasing with a growth rate of 2.84 percent, according to the latest census, the treatment plant has not undergone the necessary expansion. Instead, its treatment capacity has fallen to below 40 percent due to various push-and-pull factors.
Retrospectively, it is clear that in the early years, development work on the STP progressed steadily; however, today, the plant is on the brink of closure due to various obstacles.
Accountability Remains Elusive
An official at the STP, speaking on condition of anonymity, revealed that corruption by the contracting party is a factor contributing to the plant’s below-capacity operation.
Due to resource shortages, the number of employees at the plant office has been reduced by half. Although the plant was previously operational, it has frequently been non-operational in recent years, he added.
An inquiry into corruption at the plant was launched, and the probing committee presented its findings; however, no progress has been made to hold those responsible accountable, the anonymous official revealed.
Based on the directions issued in the 2009-10 audit report, an inquiry was initiated into the STP project. The inquiry committee concluded that an undue payment was made to the contractor, exceeding the scope of the agreement and not covered under the provisions of the contract, as per the inquiry document.
The document mentions that no technical substitution had been sanctioned by the competent authority. The committee noted that a conditional Technical Sanction (TS) was recorded in the noting portion, which was against usual practices.
The inquiry committee supported the concerns raised by the audit authorities and determined that a provisional payment of Rs50 million was unduly made to the contractor, which must be recovered, as stated in the inquiry report.
Earlier, the Departmental Accounts Committee (DAC) directed that approval for the deviation statement and records indicating that the provisional payment was in line with the work agreement must be shown to the audit for verification within 10 days.
Additionally, in October 2016, Sub-Committee IV of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) instructed that the “unjustified payment beyond contract provisions must be investigated and responsibility fixed”.
Two separate contracts were awarded to RM Gulistan Engineers and Contractors (Pvt) Limited during the fiscal year 2004-05 for the works in question, according to the documents available with us. The inquiry report reveals that the sewage treatment processes in Phases I and II were found to be malfunctioning due to minor repair and maintenance issues.
The Phase III treatment facility ceased operations immediately following its faulty refurbishment, which was completed in 2008. The Phase IV treatment facility was also found to be non-operational, with staff from the Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) Directorate confirming that Phase IV has remained dysfunctional since 2012.
Capacity Claims Disputed
The STP Directorate claimed to be treating 2 to 2.5 million gallons per day (MGD) against the facility’s designed capacity of 18 MGD. However, this claim was proven inaccurate due to the malfunctioning of the electro-mechanical equipment in the mentioned phases.
The final page of the seven-page inquiry report concludes that the functioning of all phases of the sewage treatment plant (STP) was deliberately hampered or halted, with substandard electro-mechanical equipment installed. As a result, the entire expenditure of over Rs 2.7 million on this mega project has been rendered wasteful.
“We have requested the government to release funds for the repair of the damaged sections of the water channels. This intervention is essential to ensure the maximum productivity of the Sewage Treatment Plant,” said Deputy Director Doolat Khan.
He mentioned that the total treatment capacity of the plant is 17 million gallons per day (MGD), but it is currently processing around 1.2 MGD or less.
The sewage water at the plant is treated using chemicals, and after undergoing various treatment processes, it is released into the nullahs. The director explained that an estimated 70 percent of this treated water is usable and can be utilized for animals, birds, and agricultural purposes, including nursery planting.
It is important to note that the treatment plant is not only effective in making used water reusable for agricultural and horticultural purposes, but the STP was also producing approximately 2,500 tons of manure, which could generate revenue of approximately Rs3.5 million. After water treatment, sludge is produced and converted into manure, which is sold in the open market at Rs70 per 50kg.
Islamabad’s Environmental Crisis
Dr Zagham Abbas, Director of Pak-EPA’s National Environmental Quality Standards (NEQs) Lab, while reflecting on Islamabad’s environmental challenges, explained that the city, initially developed under a comprehensive master plan, now faces numerous environmental issues.
In Islamabad, not only water resources, but housing, infrastructure, health, and educational facilities are all depleting, said Dr Zagham Abbas. The CDA needs to establish clear boundaries regarding the land area of Islamabad and determine the extent of its potential expansion. Following this assessment, no construction or further development should be permitted, he suggested.
“The CDA was initially responsible for maintaining the city’s development in line with the law,” Dr Zagham Abbas noted. “Over time, however, several changes were made to the master plan to adapt to new needs, and development laws were amended.”
He pointed out that when Islamabad was first developed, the water table was approximately 50 feet underground. Today, it has dropped to an estimated 500 feet.
According to Dr Zagham, it was the CDA’s responsibility, under the original master plan, to ensure a sustainable water supply to prevent residents from relying on individual boreholes, which has contributed to the depletion of the underground water table.
On the other hand, the water table has fallen beyond the CDA’s control due to the proliferation of boreholes. The CDA was supposed to develop a system to provide water supply to residents within each sector. However, as new housing schemes emerged over time, the supply system was not extended to these areas, leading residents to create individual boreholes.
This can be seen as a failure of the development authority, as it did not maintain proper checks and balances or ensure the supply of essential resources.
Today, almost every household has a borehole, and more concerning is the lack of regulation around it. One household may dig to 200 feet, another to 300 feet, a third to 400 feet, and yet another to 500 feet. Consequently, the underground water table continues to drop.
In many sectors of Islamabad, there is no water supply provided by the CDA. It’s common for these areas to lack an underground water infrastructure, leaving residents primarily reliant on tanker water supplies.
The primary issue is that the designated sectors where the development authority was responsible for supplying water have been neglected, and they have also failed to properly regulate new housing societies. As a result, Islamabad’s community is facing significant challenges.
The second issue is that the entire water supply system is outdated and urgently requires upgrades and maintenance. Water supply pipes are leaking, leading to water wastage, contamination, and bacterial growth.
Solid waste pollutes your environment in three ways. It pollutes the air, underground water and land. In Pakistan, lack of public awareness is a big challenge as far as environmental pollution is concerned, said Dr Abida, a local environmentalist.
Pakistan is a country that already suffers from water scarcity. An estimated 2.5 million people lose their lives each year due to waterborne diseases, and approximately 2.5 billion people lack access to clean drinking water, said Dr Abida.
Fighting Water Contamination
“We observe that many people are not aware of the importance of water. They use excessive amounts of drinking water for washing and other domestic chores on a daily basis, and one can see clean water flowing in the streets of Islamabad,” Dr. Abdia argued.
She added that there is a need to increase public awareness about the importance of water. “We are facing water scarcity, yet water continues to be wasted. Why is this happening? This issue needs to be understood.”
Dr Abida said that the most important community to raise awareness among is women, especially those at home. There is a need to sensitize them to the harms of excessive use of clean drinking water, as it contributes to the country’s growing water scarcity.
Persistent Leakages Raise Concerns
Residents of Islamabad’s F-6/4 sector are grappling with a recurring water leakage problem, despite repeated efforts by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to address the issue. According to complaints, the leakage, though repaired, continues to resurface, highlighting infrastructure challenges in the area.
While the CDA, with support from philanthropists and various organizations, has installed filtration plants across different sectors to provide drinking water, concerns over water quality persist. Reports indicate that water from these filtration plants often contains microbial contamination and bacteria, contributing to a noticeable increase in waterborne diseases in the city.
Dr Zagham Abbas, addressing the situation, emphasized the urgent need to supply clean and safe drinking water. “At Pak-EPA, we frequently send recommendations to the CDA to improve water quality,” he stated.
Dr Abbas also outlined the responsibilities of key stakeholders in ensuring sustainable development. He noted that the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) oversees environmental compliance for projects initiated in Islamabad. Meanwhile, the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) is tasked with monitoring clean drinking water, and the CDA focuses on infrastructure development.
“Pak-EPA is responsible for conducting the initial environmental examination of all CDA projects,” he added. “We monitor each project comprehensively, ensuring environmental compliance from start to finish.”
The persistent challenges underline the need for coordinated efforts to tackle water-related issues and safeguard public health in Islamabad.
Shazia Mehboob is a PhD scholar and a visiting faculty member. She is also a freelance journalist and the founder of The PenPK.com. You can follow her on Twitter @thepenpk.
