New initiative launched for clean water

ISLAMABAD (December 08 2005): Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said federal government along with the provincial governments had launched a new initiative to provide clean drinking water to the people.Talking to newsmen in Islamabad on Wednesday, the Prime Minister said the federal government had already announced this programme, which was now being implemented in collaboration with the provincial governments.He said that the provincial governments would establish special units at their respective capitals to monitor this programme and would bear local expenditure while the federal government would provide major expenses.He said that provincial governments had also been assigned the duty for site selection of constructing water purification plants at union council level.The Prime Minister said, under this programme overall 5,400 water purification plants would be constructed in all union councils during the next two years. He said provision of clean drinking water would help ensuring better health of the people through preventing water born diseases.Earlier, the Prime Minister chaired a meeting to finalise the strategy for the implementation of the programme, which was attended by the Chief Ministers of Punjab, Sindh and NWFP, Federal Minister for Science and Technology, Chaudhry Naurez Shakoor and Minister of State for Environment Malik Amin Aslam.The meeting was briefed about the progress made so far on the establishment of water purification plants and future plans of implementation.It was disclosed that Rs 495 million would be spent in the first phase of the programme and 445 water plants would be completed under this phase.Clean drinking water programme was approved by President Pervez Musharraf in August this year with an objective to ensure clean drinking water for each one to save the people from water born diseases. Business Recorder