Focal Point sans water for 6 months

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, April 19

The project work to replace old pipelines to ensure uninterrupted water supply in the New Focal Point area, situated near Dabwali Road, hangs in balance. Left with barely any alternative, industrialists are forced to purchase and transport water campers from the city on a daily basis.

Potable water supply has been a problem in this industrial area for a long time but authorities concerned have resorted to providing temporary solutions only, thereby leaving the industrial fraternity dejected.

Sources said earlier, the water pipeline was partly damaged and after doing the repair work on temporary basis, supply used to be resumed. But now, the pipeline that supplies canal water is completely damaged, interrupting the water supply on permanent basis.

Talking to Bathinda Tribune, Sukhwinder Singh Jaggi, president of the Bathinda Small Industries Association, said “It is summer season and without potable water supply, managing things will get utterly difficult for us. There are thousands of workers employed in the industrial units here and providing them potable water is one of the most basic necessities. But neither administration nor Punjab Small Industries and Export Corporation Limited (PSEIC) authorities are concerned about the same.”

He said “The water pipeline has got completely damaged and two water tanks, which were used for filtering water, are lying dry for the past six months. Industrialists are left with no option but to purchase water campers for Rs 20 each. On an average, one industrialist has to purchase 10 to 50 water campers on daily basis. The tender for replacing the old pipeline was floated around two months ago and the project work has also been allotted but the work has not started yet.”

Members of the workers’ union at the focal point rued that clean drinking water seemed to be a distant dream for them. The RO system installed in the area was not functional and the canal water stored in the uncovered water tanks here was unfit for drinking, they claimed.

The water pipes, installed here in 1984, have neither been repaired nor replaced by the PSIEC. There are more than 100 small and medium-scale industrial units in the New Focal Point, where more than 5,000 workers are employed.

Earlier, the water supply was erratic and the water had a foul taste. A few factory workers had even fallen sick early last year. Thereafter, a majority of the industrial units had started transporting filtered drinking water from the city.

PSIEC authorities have been citing shortage of staff and delay on the part of higher authorities as the roadblocks in streamlining the water supply in the focal point area.

Sushil Sharma, XEN, PSIEC, could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.

The crisis

• There are about 100 units in the New Focal Point, where more than 5,000 workers are employed
• Earlier, the supply was erratic and the water had a foul taste. A few factory workers had even fallen sick early last year. Thereafter, a majority of the industrial units had started transporting filtered drinking water from the city
• The water pipes, installed here in 1984, have neither been repaired nor replaced by the PSIEC. The authorities have cited shortage of staff and delay on the part of higher authorities as the roadblocks