Water scarcity in New Focal Point, bizmen blame authorities

Tribune News Service

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Bathinda, July 14

Potable water supply in New Focal Point area situated on Dabwali Road remained suspended as the work on laying of new pipelines to fetch canal water was stopped by the Punjab Small Industries and Export Corporation (PSEIC).

As a result, a large number of workers and industrialists are being forced to buy water campers and transport them to industrial area on a daily basis.

Notably, the project work to replace old pipelines to ensure uninterrupted water supply in the New Focal Point started around two months ago, but was stalled by the authorities after few weeks, for reasons best known to them.

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

Sources said earlier, when the water pipeline would get partly damaged, repair was done to restore the supply on a temporary basis. But now, the pipeline that supplies canal water was completely damaged, interrupting the water supply permanently.

Sukhwinder Singh Jaggi, president of the Bathinda Small Industries Association, said “The entire summer season has passed and now we are midway through the monsoon but there is no water supply in the industrial area. Due to hot and humid conditions, water consumption around is higher but we do not get even a drop of it. We have to manage things on our own by transporting water campers from the city to industrial area on a daily basis. There are thousands of workers employed in the industrial units and providing them potable water is one of the fundamental duty of the authorities. But neither the administration nor the PSEIC authorities are concerned about it.”

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, an industrialist has to purchase from 10 to 50 water campers on a daily basis. The tender for replacing the old pipeline was floated around two months ago and the project has also been allotted but the work has not started yet.”

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

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