Mingora water supply scheme to mitigate climate change impacts: official

MINGORA: The Mingora Greater Water Supply and Neighborhood Park Project, under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Cities Improvement Project (KPCIP), aims to mitigate the impacts of climate change on groundwater resources, promote tourism, and significantly improve the overall health of the city’s inhabitants.

This was stated by Commissioner Malakand Saqib Raza Aslam while briefing a five-member team of directors from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).The ADB team included directors Moushomi Khan, Keiko Takahashi, Alberto Carden, Noor Ahmad, Senior Project Officer Umar Ali Shah, and Asad Aleem.The briefing was chaired by Commissioner Saqib Raza Aslam. KPCIP Director Technical Mian Muhammad Shakeel presented the technical aspects of the project, Director Compliance Amir Alam Khan addressed social safeguards and environmental aspects, while Director Finance Qazi Raees discussed the financial aspects.

The commissioner emphasised the critical importance of the water supply project for the city, particularly given the rising population and its historic and cultural significance, including Buddhist heritage sites.

“Population growth has significantly increased the burden on water resources, and climate change has exacerbated the situation further,” he said.He noted that floods in 2010, 2015, and 2022 had severely impacted the district’s infrastructure, particularly in the city. The commissioner expressed hope that the water supply scheme would address the water shortage and help preserve groundwater resources for future generations.

Under the scheme, water from the River Swat will be tapped and supplied through a pipeline to a water treatment plant, where it will be treated using a rapid treatment system. The treated water will then be distributed through a 485-kilometer-long pipeline network. The treatment plant will process 30 million gallons per day and serve 80 percent of the population, covering 850,000 residents.

KPCIP’s Senior Project Officer Umar Ali Shah highlighted the gender component of the project, wherein 200 women are being trained under a one-year fully funded internship program.

“In the first batch, 25 women have already been placed in relevant departments at water and sanitation service companies according to their educational background,” he said. The internship programme aims to encourage and enable women to play a constructive role in the development of society.He also briefed the team on agreements signed with various national and international educational institutions for fully funded scholarships for women.

Notably, KPCIP recently signed an MoU with the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok, under which the institute will enroll 30 women in a two-year fully funded scholarship program, with ADB covering their expenses. ADB’s director Khan lauded the efforts for promoting women’s education and offering them internship and scholarship programs to enable them to build their careers.Later, the team inspected the environmental and social safety measures at the neighborhood park and water supply scheme sites.