MC readies for summer, plans to boost water supply system

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, March 3

Even after the inauguration of the first phase of the canal-based water supply project by Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, the Municipal Corporation is still spending funds on existing ground-based water supply system in the city.

There is a total of 400 tubewells in the city and these are insufficient to fulfill the requirement of residents. The MC installs more than 80 tubewells every summer and the same number of pumps get defunct. In 2019, the MC had installed 40 tubewells under the urban mission and 40 under other schemes. In 2020, the General House passed 24 tubewells and 38 were proposed under the AMRUT scheme. There are several proposals that got nod in the recent Finance and Contract Committee (F&CC) meeting for the existing groundwater system.

The Punjab CM had announced Rs722 crore for its first phase for the canal-based water project. The entire project would cost around Rs2,200 crore and would help in providing clean and safe drinking water to the population of the holy city, while it would reduce dependence on groundwater which has been leading to the environmental degradation in the state. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the lending arm of the World Bank Group, would finance 70 per cent of the cost and the rest would be borne by the Punjab Government.

As per the government’s plan the surface water system would replace the groundwater system in the urban areas of the state.

When contacted, Mayor Karmajit Singh Rintu said: “The canal-based project would be implemented in two years. We have to fulfill the basic amenities to the residents and water is must for every household. So we have to spend funds on the existing groundwater system. Even after implementation of canal-based water system, we will keep the groundwater system functional as an alternative.”

Canal system to tackle groundwater crisis

• The MC installs more than 80 tubewells every summer and the same number of pumps get defunct. In 2020, the General House passed 24 tubewells and 38 were proposed under the AMRUT scheme
• There are several proposals that got nod in the recent Finance and Contract Committee (F&CC) meeting for the existing groundwater system. The Punjab CM had announced Rs722 crore for its first phase for the canal-based water project
• The entire project would cost around Rs2,200 crore and would help in providing clean and safe drinking water to the population of the holy city, while it would reduce dependence on groundwater which has been leading to environmental degradation in the state