Mohali’s wait for extra water gets longer as project to miss deadline

Akash Ghai

Tribune News Service

Mohali, April 11

Having left with some major works, including connection of new Phase 5-6 pipeline with inlet tank at Kajauli waterworks and one missing link of the pipeline at Mandoli village, construction of water treatment plant by GMADA and pump chamber by the UT Administration, the deadline of April 30 for start of water supply through the new pipeline (Phase 5-6) is all set to be missed.

Notably, GMADA and the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation had given an assurance to Punjab Governor-cum-UT Administrator VP Singh Badnore of starting extra 40 MGD water supply through the new pipeline by April 30 in a meeting held early this year.

Though GMADA officials claimed that they are on the verge of completion of the required work, which has been entrusted to them, they also admitted that it would take minimum six months more to start supplying extra water to Chandigarh only.

As per the GMADA authorities, they were entrusted with the job of connecting two missing links of Phase 5-6 pipeline at Darpan village and Mandoli. They claimed that the job was almost done.

“The task of connecting the new pipeline with the inlet tank at Kajauli waterworks is now the responsibility of the Irrigation Department, Punjab, and the job will take minimum three months. So there will be no supply for at least three months more,” said a GMADA official. If talk about Mohali, the town seems to wait for at least one-and-a-half-year more to get extra 5 MGD of 40 MGD water from the Phase 5-6 pipeline.

“The work of construction of a water treatment plant and laying pipeline for distribution of water in different areas in the town is yet to take off,” said the official. The Chandigarh MC and GMADA have to construct their own pumping stations at Sinhpur village, Kharar, to make the new pipeline functional. Without pumping stations, water could not reach to the destinations. Now GMADA has decided to construct 5 MGD capacity WTP in the first phase of project of building the plant, having capacity extended up to 45 MGD in near future. GMADA has already acquired 35.22 acre for the purpose.

New pipeline

In the first phase, the new pipeline (having a capacity of 80 MGD) will bring 40 MGD water out of which Chandigarh would get 29 MGD, Mohali 5 MGD, and Panchkula and Chandimandir 3 MGD each.

Water-sharing pattern

As per the arrangement of sharing water, decided at a meeting chaired by the then Home Minister on July 6, 1983, sharing of 20 MGD water from the Bhakra main line was as under:

Chandigarh 14.5 MGD
Punjab (for Mohali) 2.5 MGD
Haryana (for Panchkula) 1.5 MGD
Chandimandir Cantt 1.5 MGD

At a meeting held on March 10, 1989, under the chairmanship of RP Ohja, the then Chief Secretary to the Punjab Government, it was decided that the same pattern of distribution of water would be adopted for Phase II and III pipeline. Similarly, for the Phase IV pipeline, the same pattern was adopted.

Escalation of project cost

The Rs 156-crore project was launched in March 2012 with its completion deadline on August 31, 2013. The deadline was missed. Later, several more deadlines were also missed. Now, the cost of the project has escalated to over Rs 200 crore. As per GMADA officials, the UT Administration has to share half of the project cost. “The UT administration has already paid us nearly Rs 90 crore,” said SK Kansal, Chief Engineer of GMADA.

Huge gap in demand and supply

With having a huge gap of nearly 20 MGD in demand and supply of drinking water, the town is again all set to witness water crisis in peak summer this year.

Presently, against demand of more than 35 MGD water, which would further escalate in peak summer, Mohali has been getting nearly 17 MGD water. The main source of water supply in the town is Kajauli waterworks from which it gets 10 MGD water to partially fulfil its water demand. The water supply is being done through four pipelines — Phase 1, 2, 3 and 4, which bring 2.5 MGD water each for the town. Apart from Kajauli waterworks, GMADA and the Mohali Municipal Corporation have been running tubewells, around 105 in total, for the purpose from which the town gets around 7 MGD water.

The town has been divided in two parts when it comes to water supply here. One part, which is being known as ‘Old Mohali’, is getting its water supply from Kajauli, while new sectors from Sector 66 to 69, 76 to 80, Aero City and IT City are being fed by GMADA.

GMADA has been running around 70 tubewells to get around 4.8 MGD of water, while corporation’s tubewells, around 35 in number, are pumping around 2.5 MGD for the town.

Presently, the population of Mohali town is said to be touching 4.5 lakh.