ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday issued directives to remove all hurdles in construction of Dasu dam in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, ARY News reported.

Chairing a briefing by Ministry of Water Resources at Prime Minister’s Office today, the PM said that the issue of acquisition of land and settlement with the affectees of Dasu dam should be resolved on priority basis in consultation with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and taking into account legitimate demands of the affectees.

The premier also directed ministry of water resources and planning division to coordinate with provincial governments and formulate a comprehensive plan with delineated timelines for undertaking urban water schemes for all major cities on priority basis.

The prime minister was briefed in detail about the overall situation regarding the availability of water in the country, situation of storage of water and the issues being faced towards ensuring water security for growing population of the country.

The PM was informed that the current water storage capacity of around 13.7 maf was far below the international standards and needs to be enhanced on priority basis.

He was told that there was an urgent need to check unregulated abstraction of ground water which has resulted into fast depletion of aquifers, upon which the premier directed that a comprehensive plan along with a legislative framework should be worked out for ensuring maximum utilization of the surface water and reversing the existing trend of unabated pumping of groundwater.

The premier also directed that a comprehensive plan should be formulated to promote off-grid solutions including harnessing of solar and wind potential of the country.

Minister for Finance Mr. Asad Umar, Minister for Planning Mr. Khusro Bakhtiyar, Minister for Power Mr. Omar Ayub Khan, Advisor to PM Malik Amin Aslam Khan, Secretaries of Water Resources, Economic Affairs Division, Food Security & Research, Chairman WAPDA and senior officers were present during the meeting.