Punjab orders 5,734 water filtration plants completed by June 2027

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has ordered all 5,734 water filtration plants across the province to be completed by June 2027. Clean drinking water, she told a meeting of the Punjab Saaf Pani Authority, is a fundamental right of every citizen — not a favour to be handed out.

Assistant commissioners to keep watch
The chief minister put monitoring in the hands of the assistant commissioners. Each AC will be responsible for the filtration plants in their area, with public committees formed under them to keep an eye on the plants street by street. The point, plainly, is that whether a plant is running or lying idle should be known in the neighbourhood itself, not just in an office file.

A repair van in every tehsil
The meeting also decided to set up a mobile maintenance unit in every tehsil. Staffed with plumbers and technicians, these mobile workshops are meant to end the long waits for repairs that have left plants shut and neighbourhoods fetching water from elsewhere. The idea is simple: fix it where it stands, and keep the supply running.

Reaching the last mile
Maryam Nawaz also approved a Last-Mile Water Supply Project for the worst-affected parts of Chakwal, Rajanpur and Rawalpindi. Schemes covering 256 kilometres in Chakwal and 1,780 kilometres in Rajanpur will be taken up first, ahead of other areas.

Bottles reaching homes
Officials briefed the meeting that water bottling plants in Khushab, Dera Ghazi Khan, Rahim Yar Khan and Bahawalpur are producing 10,000 19-litre bottles a day between them. The chief minister said the bottling project has already benefited 4.8 million people, with more than 75,000 bottles delivered directly to households. For the first time in Punjab, she said, clean drinking water is being taken to people’s doors — and once the priority districts are covered, the schemes will be extended elsewhere.