Water crisis set to deepen as tubewells lie defunct in Amritsar

Charanjit Singh Teja

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, May 26

With a sharp rise in the temperatures, the potable water crisis has deepened in the city. Some of the tubewells are lying defunct while many other newly installed ones are not operational. Residents cite defunct tubewells as the reason behind low water pressure.

In a recent meeting with Mayor Karmajit Singh Rintu, councillor of Ward No.56 Pramod Babla complained that tubewells in Ekta Nagar and Chotta Haripura were lying defunct.

In February this year, Mayor Karmajit Singh Rintu had announced that 35 more tubewells would be installed in the city before summer to address the water shortage. Around 14 pumps were installed under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), but they are yet to be made functional.

Sunita Sharma, councillor of Ward No.81, claimed that a new tubewell was installed in Sandhu Colony, but it could not be operated for want of power connection. She claimed that though a work order to install a tubewell in her area had been placed three months ago, it was yet to be installed.

Sanjive Tangari, husband of Nitu Tangari, who is councillor of Ward No.53, stated that they got a new tubewell sanctioned at Rani Ka Bagh. He demanded that the work of installing it should start soon.

The MC installs more than 80 tubewells every year and the same number of pumps gets defunct. Last year, the MC had installed 40 tubewells under the urban mission and 40 under other schemes. This year, the general house passed 24 tubewells and 38 were proposed under the AMRUT scheme. There is a total of 400 tubewells in the city and these are insufficient to fulfil the requirement of residents.

Experts claim that groundwater is not a solution to the problem as the upper strata of water is contaminated in the city. Despite announcements of a canal-based water scheme by the government, the project is still hanging fire.