Groundwater extraction in Amritsar's urban areas exceeds 300%, say Vice Chancellor

The government has initiated steps to shift reliance on ground water to bulk supply from canal. The authorities concerned are now seeking stakeholders support for starting the first phase of the Amritsar Bulk Water Supply Project. In line with the directives of Municipal Commissioner Gulpreet Singh Aulakh, Guru Nanak Dev University hosted a seminar on the objectives of the project and how it can mitigate the sustainability challenges including the biggest threat of over extraction of ground water in Punjab.

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Vice Chancellor (VC) Prof Karamjeet Singh said the seminar was organised by the Municipal Corporation and the Department of Sociology and School of Social Sciences of the GNDU. He said the aim of the seminar was to educate students about the Amritsar Bulk Water Supply Scheme (ABWSP) and promote water conservation practices.

Prof Anjali Mehra, Head, School of Social Sciences, and Raman Sharma, who is engaged with the ABWSS project highlighted the alarming decline in Punjab’s groundwater level, the VC said. Citing the Ground Water Resources of Punjab 2022 report, the VC said out of 153 blocks in the state, 117 were classified as dark zones, including all 10 blocks of Amritsar district.

“The groundwater extraction in Amritsar’s urban areas has exceeded 300 per cent, making it unsustainable as a long-term water supply source. To address this issue, the Punjab Government has initiated the Amritsar Bulk Water Supply Project (ABWSP) which will provide a safe and sustainable water supply by treating water from the Upper Bari Doab Canal (UBDC),” he said.

“The project includes the construction of a 440 MLD (44 crore litres) water treatment plant at Vallah, laying of a 112 km-long pipeline network that is underway, and the development of 51 new water storage tanks,” he said.

Addressing participants at the seminar, Dr Monika Sabharwal highlighted the issues of countering challenges like water contamination in terms of the transition from groundwater to treated surface water. She said water supplied under the ABWSP would be at the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) 10500:2012 quality norms.

She also shared practical water conservation tips, such as use of washing machines in full capacity, using buckets instead of showers for bath, installing overflow alarms in rooftop water tanks, repairing leaking taps promptly and cleaning vehicles with a wet cloth instead of running water.

Last month, a team of World Bank had visited Amritsar and met with officials of the MC regarding the Punjab Municipal Services Improvement Project (PMSIP) being run by the civic body in collaboration with the World Bank. The ABWSP project is part of the PMSIP.