KP, Saudi authorities to launch Rs19bn water scheme

MANSEHRA: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, in collaboration with Saudi Arabia, will launch a mega gravity water supply scheme for the city and its suburbs at an estimated cost of Rs19 billion.

“We are aware of the water scarcity in the city and its suburbs, and are going to address this issue with the financial support of Saudi Arabia,” Speaker Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Babar Saleem Swati told a function here.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Azam Khan Swati and provincial deputy president Kamal Saleem Swati were also present.

The KP Assembly speaker said that Saudi Arabia would contribute 40 percent of the Rs19 billion earmarked for the water supply scheme.

“Thanks to Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, who has taken a personal interest in addressing this chronic issue faced by people of Mansehra and approved this scheme and the funds needed for it,” he said.

Babar Saleem Swati said the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) had also given its approval and that a mega water scheme would shortly be initiated.

“The chief minister will inaugurate the scheme after its installation at the Neeli Nadi (stream) in Paras area of Kaghan valley,” Swati said.

The speaker added that he had taken up that scheme with the then Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government in the centre in 2021 as MPA and the latter not only approved it but also took that issue with Saudi Arabia for financial assistance.

Speaking on the occasion, former senator Azam Khan Swati said it was a mega scheme approved by the KP government to address the water scarcity issue in Mansehra.

Kamal Saleem Swati said the scheme could fetch potable water from Kaghan Valley.

“Successive governments had announced to address the potable water issue in Mansehra but miserably failed,” he said.