Prioritise canal water project, says Mayor

Amritsar, August 17

With Chief Minister Capt Amrinder Singh announcing the World Bank-aided project to provide canal-based drinking water supply in the city, Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora, who had supervised the same proposal during the SAD-BJP regime, today said the plan should be materialised at the earliest.

According to the government’s plan, the surface water scheme will replace the existing groundwater supply, thus addressing a serious concern of the region which is facing groundwater depletion and cases of vector-borne diseases. “Earlier, we had sent a detailed report of the project to the World Bank and the state government, but the government dropped the plan without intimating us,” the mayor said.

On July 10, 2012, the then Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had chaired a meeting to discuss the scheme under which the canal-based water supply was to be introduced in the city. Mayor Bakshi Ram had advocated the usage of Upper Bari Doab Canal (UBDC), generally known Sultanwind Canal, instead of Beas river.

As per estimates, it requires Rs 600 crore for extracting water from canal and its treatment. — TNS