Minister for efforts to conserve water

LAHORE:On special instructions of Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, Housing & Urban Development Department has started observing “Fix A Leak Week.”

Minister Housing & Urban Development Mian Mehmood-ur-Rasheed while giving details of this campaign to media said only 2.5 per cent out of a total of water available on this earth is freshwater and the purpose of observing this week is to enhance efforts for water conservation. He stated that the amount of water loss due to small leakages usually cause heavy loss of water. Careless attitude towards urban leaks can waste millions of gallons of water annually thus depriving millions of people of their basic water needs. He said a leaky faucet can waste up to 100 gallons of water a day. A loosely closed tap can waste gallons of water while you brush your teeth, he maintained. Mian Mehmood-ur-Rasheed said development authorities, water & sanitation agencies (Wasa) and parks & horticulture authorities (PHAs) have been instructed to raise public awareness and fix all leakages in offices or public places. Wasa has been instructed to fix its tube-wells and disposal stations’ leaks to preserve water. Minister Housing said Wasa has successfully completed the biggest underground water tank project of the country at Lawrence Road with a storage capacity of 1.4 million gallons. Water recycling plants have also been installed at 111 car service stations of the city and ablution water of 50 different mosques are also being used for irrigation purpose in parks, the minister said.