The Capital Development Authority (CDA) plans to make it mandatory for house owners in Islamabad to construct recharge wells to replenish the groundwater reserves. This proposal has been submitted to the building control section, which is working on amending existing by-laws to enforce the construction of recharge wells at the house level. The wells will help to recharge the underground water table through rainwater, as the water table in the capital is depleting at a rate of four feet every year. While existing by-laws already require house owners to have water tanks to store rainwater, they are not enforced. The CDA hopes that enforcing these by-laws will help to replenish the groundwater reserves, which are currently being depleted at an alarming rate.
The CDA official stated that at least 70 underground wells constructed in various areas, mostly in parks, have helped increase the underground water table in their respective areas. However, the CDA has ignored the problem of water scarcity in Islamabad for many years, despite the city’s population rapidly growing due to urbanization and migration. Since the construction of the Khanpur Dam in the 1990s, no new sources of water have been explored to meet the water needs of the city. While several projects were announced in the past, such as Chirrah, Shahdara, and Chinyot dams, and the extension of Khanpur Dam, they were never implemented.
The CDA has been carrying out construction work on five new sectors and new apartment schemes, and private housing societies and apartment buildings continue to grow in Islamabad without any focus on water needs. An official warned that the civic body should focus on the water issue as, if left unattended, the city will face water scarcity in the coming years. Islamabad currently requires 220mgd water while the CDA is providing only 70mgd, and this need is only going to increase with new housing projects. The official believes that rainwater harvesting through recharge wells is not a solution to this grave problem and that it is time to focus on resolving the water issue in the capital.
