Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan has directed the Water and Sanitation Services Company Peshawar (WSSP) to take preemptive measures for the drainage of rainwater at different spots including University Road and Kohat Road. He also instructed Wssp to ensure that there was no water on the roads after rain.
He issued these directives while chairing a meeting of WSSP held here on Monday. Provincial Minister for Local Government Faisal Amin Gandapur, Chairman WSSP Rizwan Bangash, Chief Executive Officer WSSP and other senior officials also attended the meeting. The meeting was briefed in detail about the performance of Wssp and was told that Wssp provides services to 3.3 million population in 65 Union Councils and 233 Neighborhood Councils of District Peshawar.
The participants were also informed that 240,000 tons of waste were disposed of by the company on an annual basis, while 12,000 complaints related to tube wells and sanitation services had been resolved during the last year. A total of 1,200 water samples were tested for one year to ensure the supply of clean drinking water to consumers. Moreover, a real-time water quality testing system was introduced in Wssp.
Similarly, a tracking system had also been installed on garbage vehicles to monitor their movement. The participants were told that all the water filtration plants being operated by Wssp had been made fully functional. A total of 540 tube wells were being operated by Wssp while solarization of at least 50 percent of them would save Rs 500 million annually. Besides, seventy thousand new water connections will be installed in the next seven years, which will result in revenue generation of Rs 66 million per year. The chief minister directed Wssp to improve their performance, adding that providing a “clean and healthy environment to the citizens is the priority of the provincial government”. He clarified that all the required resources to this end would be provided on a priority basis to ensure sanitation as per public expectations.
The Chief Minister stressed the need for a special sanitation campaign to ensure cleanliness in the provincial capital, adding that all the relevant departments must fulfill their responsibilities in a coordinated manner. The meeting was apprised that the machinery required for the expansion of Wssp to the new union councils had been purchased, which included 33 mini-tippers, four excavators, 16 tractors and other machinery. Addressing the participants, CM Mahmood said that there would be no compromise on the cleanliness of the provincial capital and all the authorities concerned should strictly monitor sanitation activities.
