Canal-based water supply in Amritsar gets shot in the arm

Charanjit Singh Teja

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, September 29

After the Cabinet gave its nod for canal-based water supply to Amritsar city in July, the tendering process to set up the water treatment plant has been initiated.

The Amritsar Municipal Corporation officials said the government had acquired 40 acres near Vallah, which will have treatment plant, water collection tanks and pumping stations. The government had spent Rs 36.40 crore for acquiring the land.

Naresh Kumar, Executive Engineer-cum-Nodal Officer of the project said, “The tendering process has been initiated to set up the treatment plant at Vallah. Tenders will be opened on October 4. World Bank is funding the project and the work will commence soon.”

The project has been the long-pending demand of residents as the city has been facing severe water crisis for the past few decades.

Moreover, depletion of groundwater and its contamination had made it tough for the civic body to meet the routine demand of potable water. The MC spends a good amount on tubewells every year.

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the lending arm of the World Bank, will finance 70 per cent project and the rest will be borne by the Punjab Government. The project was proposed in 2015 by the SAD-BJP government and it took five years for the approval.

Naveen Kumar, a local resident, said, “The canal-based 24X7 water supply is a much-needed project. The government should implement it at the earliest. Residents of the walled city and other areas often receive contaminated water. The existing infrastructure is inadequate to meet the increasing demand of residents.” He said, “We welcome the move of the state government as it is the need of the hour. It will also help to address the problem of water depletion.”