LAHORE: The Ravi Urban Development Authority (RUDA) held a seminar on the Ravi Dost campaign at FAST University Lahore on Monday to spotlight the endeavours of RUDA and establish the public awareness matrix of the upcoming city by the river.

During the seminar, RUDA Executive Director Commercial, Kashif Qureshi briefed the students on the objectives of the Authority, including multiple dimensional projects like riverside establishment of forestation, wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) and waste-to-energy.

Later, during the panel discussion on wastewater treatment plants and waste-to-energy, the RUDA Director of Hydrology explained that more than 1000 cusecs of contaminated water will be treated and later will be pumped out into the river each day from the WWTP located at several locations along the Ravi River in Mahmud Booti, Shadbagh, and Shahdara. “These plants will have modern infrastructure, ensuring water’s effective management and cleanliness, which will be first of its kind,” he added.

He further said that the water in Ravi River will not only be restored but will also be put to good use, along with providing several jobs to the upcoming engineers. On this occasion, the panellists also explained that according to the global report, Ravi has been declared as one of the most poisonous rivers of the world and agricultural production from this water will be unfair to the people.

Dr Shahid, the head of the department of the engineering department, appreciated the effort of the panellists in dispelling the negative perception of RUDA in matters related to land acquisition and its effect on the environment.

Later, Kashif Qureshi invited the faculty and students of the engineering department to visit the development site of RUDA along the river and see for themselves how Ravi and its ecosystem are being transformed through positive initiatives by RUDA.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022