2 days on, Chandigarh residents grapple with erratic water supply

Residents of several sectors have been facing erratic water supply for the past two days due to the ongoing repairs on the Kajauli waterworks lines.

Karitkeya Saxena, a resident of Sector 63, said there had been no evening water supply in the area for the past two days. The supply was at very low pressure in the morning. There was an acute shortage of water in the area and several residents had to hire water tankers to fill their overhead tanks.

The situation was worse in Sectors 19, 21, 35, 38 and 39 where residents were forced to arrange water tankers. They alleged that there was low water pressure even on the ground floor.

Amit Sharma, a resident of Sector 38, said pressure was so low that water didn’t reach overhead tanks.

Some residents alleged that when they tried to lodge a complaint on the MC helpline, nobody picked up the phone.

Rajender Singh, a resident of Sector 19, said it was very difficult to manage daily chores without proper water supply.

Arjun Sharma, a resident of Sector 26, complained of low pressure in the Police Lines quarters.

In an advisory issued on April 7, the MC had stated that owing to half-yearly maintenance of the 220 KV sub-station at Kharar and plugging of leakages on the 1200mm water supply line, Phase III, from Kajauli waterworks to Sector 39 unit, there will be a supply shutdown on this section from April 9 to 10. During this period, there will be no pumping of raw water from Kajauli (Phases I to VI) on April 9 from 9 am to 5pm, and from Phase III on April 9 and 10.

However, MC officials said the repair work had been completed and normal water supply would resume tomorrow.

Baljinder Singh Bittu, chairman, Federation of Sectors Welfare Association, Chandigarh (FOSWAC), said the MC should carry out pipeline repairs before the onset of summer season. The Administration claims it is working on providing 24x7 water supply in the entire city, but it has failed to maintain round-the-clock supply in Mani Majra where the project was inaugurated by Union Home Minister Amit Shah a few months ago.