Musarrat Ullah Jan
The problem of sewage treatment in Peshawar is not new. Planning to treat wastewater discharged from homes, markets and residential areas before it entered rivers, drains and canals began several decades ago. Yet available government records, media reports, court proceedings and official audit documents raise an important question: What happened to the projects built with public money to treat Peshawar’s sewage? And where is the city’s wastewater going today?
According to available records, work on an important sewage treatment project in Peshawar began in 1987. Land was acquired for the project and large treatment ponds were constructed. The basic concept was that wastewater from homes and residential areas would first be diverted into these ponds, where it would remain for a specified period so that pollutants and solid materials could settle and separate before the water was released into the environment.
According to a 2010 report, around Rs120 million had been spent on the project, and a major portion of the project had been completed by 1999. However, the essential pipelines required to carry sewage from residential areas to the treatment ponds were never completed.
In other words, the basic infrastructure for sewage treatment was constructed, but the system required to bring the sewage to that infrastructure was left incomplete.
The result was that although the treatment project physically existed, sewage could not reach the treatment stage.
In 1993, another major sewage treatment project was proposed for Peshawar. Under the plan, sewage treatment facilities were to be established at four locations: Hayatabad, Warsak Road, Ring Road and Charsadda Road.
These four sites covered different sides of the city, serving surrounding urban areas. The objective was to ensure that sewage from the city was treated before being discharged directly into the Kabul River, canals and drains.
Later reports stated that the projects received financial assistance from the Asian Development Bank.
But instead of becoming a story of successful wastewater management, the project became a story of failure.
According to available records, the Asian Development Bank project was closed in 1999. Reports stated that the bank asked the provincial government to complete the remaining essential works, particularly the pipeline network required to carry sewage to the treatment facilities.
That work, however, was not completed. This created an extraordinary situation.
The land existed. The treatment ponds existed. The civil works existed.
But the complete system required to bring sewage to those facilities did not exist.
As a result, Peshawar’s sewage continued to flow towards drains, canals and other water channels. Ring Road: Treatment Ponds Turned into Garbage Dumps
An important chapter in this story concerns the sewage treatment facility near Hazarkhani along Ring Road.
According to available reports, the site covered approximately 253 kanals of land. In later years, however, the ponds constructed for sewage treatment began to be used for dumping solid waste from the city.
A 2014 report stated that two large ponds at the site had been filled with garbage. The question here is not simply why the treatment facility became non-functional.
The more important question is: Under whose authority and under what legal or administrative decision was land acquired with public money for sewage treatment later used for dumping garbage?
Warsak Road, Charsadda Road and Hayatabad
According to a 2014 report, only the Warsak Road treatment facility was reported to be operational among the four facilities, while the others had become non-functional.
However, later government planning documents presented an even more troubling picture.
The Peshawar Water and Sanitation Master Plan reviewed the existing sewage treatment facilities at Warsak Road, Charsadda Road and Ring Road.
The assessment found that these facilities were not operational at the time of the study.
At some locations, soil and vegetation had accumulated in the treatment ponds, while solid waste was also found at some sites.
This suggests that the infrastructure built to treat Peshawar’s sewage did not merely become non-functional. Over time, some of the facilities also lost their original purpose.
Budhni: The Question of the Sewage Route
Budhni is particularly important to this investigation, but an important distinction must be maintained.
It would not be accurate to describe Budhni itself as a sewage treatment facility unless the original engineering records confirm this.
The more important question is: Through which drains and water channels has sewage from different parts of Peshawar historically reached the Budhni stream, and where does it ultimately go from there?
If untreated sewage is entering Budhni or other water channels, then this is not merely a drainage issue. It is also an environmental pollution issue.
Official Audit Raises Serious Questions
This issue is not limited to newspaper reports.
An audit of Peshawar’s water and sanitation services by the Auditor General of Pakistan identified the sewage treatment facilities at Shahdhand, Warsak Road and Charsadda Road as non-functional.
The audit report stated that soil and vegetation had accumulated in some treatment ponds, solid waste was present at some locations, and sewage was being diverted towards drains and canals.
This is an important documentary finding because the issue is no longer limited to allegations made by a politician, official or newspaper. The non-functionality of treatment facilities and the problem of sewage disposal were also documented in an official government audit.
2018: The Matter Reaches the Peshawar High Court
In 2018, the issue also came before the Peshawar High Court.
During proceedings related to an investigation by the National Accountability Bureau, the court was informed that around Rs38 million had been spent on civil works at one non-functional treatment facility, while machinery had either not been installed or had subsequently become defective.
A NAB investigation officer told the court that there were difficulties in obtaining relevant records from the concerned departments.
The court also directed that records relating to sewage treatment facilities dating back to 1993 be produced.
Rs120 Million or Rs3.4 Billion?
This raises another fundamental question.
If the project was initiated in the 1990s, public money was spent, land was acquired, treatment ponds were constructed and civil works were carried out, where is the complete record of the entire project?
There is another important discrepancy in the available reporting.
One newspaper report put the project cost at around Rs120 million, while a report concerning the 2018 court proceedings referred to a Rs3.4 billion sewage treatment project.
These figures are not the same.The discrepancy itself warrants a separate investigation.
Where was the Rs120 million spent? What project or phase does the Rs3.4 billion figure relate to? What was the revised project cost? How much funding came from external assistance? How much was paid by the provincial government? And ultimately, how much money was actually spent on physical construction and machinery?
The Question Today: Where Is Peshawar’s Sewage Being Treated?
The basic objective of sewage treatment in Peshawar was to ensure that contaminated wastewater from urban areas was treated before being discharged back into the environment.
But the available record presents a different picture. Treatment facilities were constructed.
Land was acquired.Ponds were built. Financial assistance was obtained. Civil works were carried out. Yet several facilities became non-functional.Garbage accumulated at some sites.
Some treatment ponds became filled with soil and vegetation.And sewage continued to flow towards drains, canals and other water channels.The fundamental question is therefore no longer whether Peshawar once had plans for sewage treatment.
The real question is why, after three decades, Peshawar still does not have a functioning and sustainable sewage treatment system.
Why did treatment facilities constructed with public money become non-functional? Where did their machinery go? What is happening to the land acquired for these facilities? Who authorised the dumping of garbage on land designated for sewage treatment? How much additional public money was later spent on repairs and rehabilitation?
And, above all:
Where is Peshawar’s sewage going today?
To turn this issue into a comprehensive investigative report, the original planning documents for the 1987 and 1993 projects need to be obtained and examined.
