Rawalpindi: Commissioner Captain (retired) Muhammad Mehmood, while presiding over a meeting, ordered the officials concerned to develop a feasibility report on the construction of an inflatable rubber dam on River Sawan (also known as Soan River) to improve the declining underground water table of the city, according to a news reported published on December 16. He further directed officials of the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) to finalise the terms and conditions for the feasibility report.
After conducting a survey, the experts in the field will evaluate the project cost and the practicable suggestions posed by feasibility report. A rubber inflatable dam is a low-cost solution that does not require any sizeable concrete structures. Not to mention that during urban flooding, these dams are removed from the water barrier to let it flow in its usual flowing pattern. It was highlighted that the inflatable dams obstruct the water from one to two meters and by constructing this dam on Sawan River’s urban part, the flow of the water can be controlled and slowed, which can assist in improving underground water tables.
Commissioner Rawalpindi also stated that the feasibility report will also determine the location and number of inflatable rubber dams and through them, increase the life span of underground water tube wells. The commissioner was also informed that the World Bank (WB) had also conducted a study on the inflatable rubber dams’ construction of Rivers Ravi and Sutlej.
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