Rawalpindi: RDA (Rawalpindi Development Authority) will not approve new residential or commercial projects without a proper rainwater management plan, said the chairman of the board, Tariq Mahmoud Murtaza.
He said that the department has complied with the rules for the use of precious rainwater. “Rawalpindi is the second city in Punjab to collect rainwater,” said the head of the RDA. He said that following the implementation of the RDA’s rainwater harvesting initiative, Rawalpindi would become the second city in Punjab to introduce environmentally friendly measures.
He added that with the depletion of freshwater resources, the collection and use of rainwater has become very important.
Speaking about mosques, he said that there are more need and consumption for water in mosques, and to fulfil their needs, it can be improved further, and there will be a larger model for rainwater harvesting. He said the flowing water from the mosques was ideal of irrigation as it is free of chemicals. The rainwater collected will be used for ablution and used in the washing rooms as well. The remaining Ablution water is collected and used to irrigate plants and herbs in the gardens.
He said that rainwater harvesting is new to the Rawalpindi citizens but very useful for providing water for gardening, irrigation, septic tanks, and car wash stations. In a nutshell, it can be used for anything other than human consumption, where a filtering process is required.
RDA spokesperson said that the UNDP (United Nations Development Program) had shown its willingness to fund the RDA (Rawalpindi Development Authority) program to use rainwater for ablution in mosques and wastewater from mosques for irrigation in various public parks.
The United Nations will provide financial and technical assistance for the use and treatment of rainwater.
Moreover, RDA has already started rainwater harvesting with the assistance of the coordination Agency and Turkish Cooperation. He said the agency had given a gift of 50 million rupees for this project.
