The Mingora Greater Water Supply and Neighborhood Park Project, part of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Cities Improvement Project (KPCIP), aims to mitigate climate change impacts on groundwater resources, promote tourism, and significantly enhance the overall health of Mingora's inhabitants. This was highlighted by Commissioner Malakand, Saqib Raza Aslam, during a briefing to a five-member team of directors from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The ADB team, consisting of directors Moushomi Khan, Ms. Keiko Tahakashi, Alberto Carden, Noor Ahmad, Senior Project Officer Umar Ali Shah, and Asad Aleem, was briefed by the KPCIP management unit. The session, chaired by Commissioner Malakand, included technical insights from KPCIP Director Technical Mian Muhammad Shakeel, social and environmental safeguards from Director Compliance Amir Alam Khan, and financial aspects from Director Finance Qazi Raees.
Commissioner Aslam underscored the project's importance, particularly in light of the city's growing population and historic and cultural significance, with an emphasis on Buddhist heritage sites.
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“Population growth has significantly increased the burden on water resources, and climate change has exacerbated the situation further,” he stated. He also highlighted the severe impacts of the floods in 2010, 2015, and 2022 on the district's infrastructure, particularly in Mingora. The commissioner expressed optimism that the water supply scheme would address water shortages and preserve groundwater resources for future generations.
The project involves sourcing water from the River Swat, which will be piped to a water treatment plant and processed using a rapid treatment system. The treated water will then be distributed through a 485-kilometer pipeline network. The treatment plant is designed to process 30 million gallons of water per day, serving 80 percent of the population, which covers 850,000 residents.
KPCIP’s Senior Project Officer Umar Ali Shah highlighted the gender component of the project, noting that 200 women are being trained under a one-year fully funded internship program. “In the first batch, 25 women have already been placed in relevant departments at water and sanitation service companies according to their educational background,” he said. This program aims to encourage and enable women to play a constructive role in society's development.
Shah also briefed the team on agreements with various national and international educational institutions for fully funded scholarships for women. Notably, KPCIP recently signed an MoU with the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok, under which the institute will enroll 30 women in a two-year fully funded scholarship program, with ADB covering their expenses. ADB director Moushomi Khan praised the efforts to promote women's education and offer them internship and scholarship programs to build their careers.
Later, the ADB team inspected the environmental and social safety measures at the neighborhood park and water supply scheme sites.
