Islamabad : The beauty of Murree—its snow-covered serenity and the fragrant cedar-scented breeze—is as enchanting as the bitter truth is stark: this hill station remains hostage to an acute drinking water crisis. Two decades ago, during General Pervez Musharraf’s tenure, a permanent solution was envisioned. In 2005, then Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi laid the foundation of the Neelum–Jhelum Bulk Water Supply Scheme, under which an approximately 30-kilometer underground pipeline was to be laid from the River Jhelum near Kotli Sattian to Murree.
The contract was awarded to Siemens for Rs. 4 billion, with a completion target of December 2008. The project was designed to deliver six million gallons of water per day to the central reservoir at Kashmir Point. By that time, four major service tanks and roughly 20% of the pipeline had been completed, and Rs. 3 billion had already been spent. But the project couldn’t even reach its halfway mark before the political winds shifted.
Following the 2008 elections, the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) took control in Punjab. The new Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif halted funding, citing financial burden, technical complications, and an “unsustainable model” as justification. By 2011, the scheme had withered away in paperwork. Rusting pipes, worth billions, were left abandoned along Link Road. There were even plans by the provincial health department to repurpose them in Lahore or Sahiwal—plans that were partially thwarted by local resistance. Murree, however, remained thirsty. By 2012, cost estimates had escalated from the initial Rs. 2 billion to Rs. 7.5 billion, and government officials told the Lahore High Court the project was now economically “unfeasible.”
Shahbaz Sharif was not the only political figure involved. Then-local MNA and future Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi publicly stated that the proposed piped water would be “unaffordably expensive” for the average consumer, and instead advocated for smaller alternative schemes. The result? Machinery and infrastructure worth Rs. 3 billion were left to decay under open skies, while Murree continued to rely on the century-old British-era Donga Gali scheme, which provides only 1.2 million gallons per day—well short of the current need of at least 3 million gallons per day.
A turning point came when the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) formed governments both federally and in Punjab. In October 2018, Punjab Housing Minister Mian Mehmood-ur-Rasheed chaired a meeting in Murree and announced the scheme’s revival. MNAs Sadaqat Ali Abbasi and MPA Latasab Satti were made part of a committee, and a two-week deadline was set for a feasibility study. It was acknowledged in the meeting that the PML-N government had obstructed the project purely due to political rivalry, resulting in rusted machinery worth billions. The Rawalpindi Bench of the High Court had already directed the government to resume work, following a petition by PTI leader Javed Iqbal Satti. Yet, between August 2018 and April 2022, despite PTI’s presence in both spheres of governance, progress remained sluggish—bogged down by bureaucratic red tape and the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2022, and again in early 2024, PML-N returned to power at the federal and provincial levels respectively. Although new meetings were quickly convened for Murree’s “beautification” and “glass train” projects, the bulk water scheme remained buried in files. Even in a high-level meeting in June 2024, chaired by Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and her father Nawaz Sharif, discussions on short-, medium-, and long-term water plans were held—but the original bulk scheme was conspicuously omitted. The official statement clearly acknowledged that Murree receives only 1.2 MGD of water—just 40% of the demand. If the bulk water scheme had been implemented, 6 MGD could have been available, likely reducing daily law and order complaints caused by water shortages.
Ironically, in 2017, it was the same PML-N that had allocated Rs. 1.18 billion in the development budget to revive the scheme. Costs had ballooned to Rs. 8 billion, and an 18-month completion deadline was announced. But the allocated funds were silently “realigned” elsewhere, and no work followed. Now, the same party talks about seeking “alternative solutions,” standing exactly where it stood seven years ago—with the same result: zero.
A list of those politically responsible for derailing this national necessity would begin with Shahbaz Sharif, who persistently blocked funds from 2008 to 2018 and deemed the cost “unaffordable” in financial committees. Next is Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who cited impracticality and health reasons to question the project’s viability. Even Asad Umar (then in charge of PDM development portfolios) delayed fund releases despite their inclusion in budget documents. In the same years, however, multi-billion rupee projects like the Patriata Chairlift and adjacent cable systems were completed—suggesting that glamorous tourist attractions were seen as vote-getting investments, while citizens’ drinking water was not.
PTI, to its credit, at least revived NAB investigations into the scheme and its cabinet vowed to depoliticize development projects. But political instability, a worsening economy, and the no-confidence vote in April 2022 halted those efforts.
Now, as the 2025 budget debates buzz with new schemes worth billions, and Murree’s commercial lands fetch soaring prices, it is imperative to ask: how long can this development surge survive without water? According to the Murree Development Authority, over 2.5 million tourists visit each summer. Assuming each uses an average of 3 liters per day, the June-August season alone requires 640 million liters of additional water—five times the current supply. While tourist influx is seasonal, population growth is not: from just 120,000 in 2000, Murree’s population reached 256,000 by 2025 per census records. These are not just numbers of thirst—they are lifelines for business continuity and tourism-driven economic survival.
So, what in our democratic structure makes basic amenities hostage to political rivalry?
Are development budgets only meant for ribbon-cutting ceremonies and pre-election photo ops?
If not, then who is responsible for the Rs. 3 billion already spent on this shelved scheme? Why can’t political parties agree that public projects belong to the people—not to any single government?
This contradiction has deeply eroded public trust. There is now an urgent need for all parties in the National Assembly and Punjab Assembly and Government, specifically Ms. Maryam Nawaz Sharif the most active Chief Minister.
