GMDA adopts integrated water mgmt system to tackle crisis

Gurugram, May 4

In a bid to ensure equitable distribution of water supply across Gurugram and to bring down illegal water supply connections, the Smart City division of the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) conducted a pilot project of the centralised integrated water management system (CIWMS) on the Basai-Dundahera (1,200 mm) pipeline to ensure that even the last sectors on the pipeline are able to get adequate supply of water in the summer months.

Water must reach every household

The core purpose of adopting this advanced centralised integrated water management system is to ensure that water reaches equally to every household and no underground tank, which falls under the GMDA purview, remains devoid of adequate water supply. Sudhir Rajpal, CEO, GMDA

Proper distribution mechanism

Every year, the issue of water shortage was being reported, especially from Palam Vihar and Dundahera, as they are the last points on the pipeline. With the highly efficient CIWMS, a proper distribution mechanism has been put in place, leakages and overflows are controlled. PK Aggarwal, smart city adviser

The 1,200 mm pipeline, which starts from the Basai Water Treatment Plant and supplies water up to Dundahera, was chosen for the pilot project. On 39 locations, underground tanks were identified on this channel where GMDA supplies water from Basai. These locations include Palam Vihar blocks, Sector 21, Sector 22, Suncity, Sector 18, Caterpuri, Electronic City, among others, wherein the water supply issue is largely reported every year. To bring relief to the residents this year, the advanced CIWMS technology was adopted on this 1,200 mm pipeline to address the concerns of the residents of this area.

Sudhir Rajpal, CEO, GMDA, said, “The core purpose of adopting this advanced centralised integrated water management system is to ensure that water reaches equally to every household and no underground tank, which falls under the GMDA purview, should be devoid of adequate water supply. It has been found that citizens are now having access to equitable quantum of water in a legal metered way. We have cut down non-revenue water from 70 per cent to almost 19 per cent and are working to bring it down further.”

The advanced CIWMS comprises of flow meters to gauge water flow, control valve to set data on the quantum of water to be supplied in any area, pressure transmitters to gauge the water pressure, level transmitter to measure the level of water in the underground tanks, wherein all data is transmitted daily to the Integrated Command and Control Centre established at GMDA for the team to identify and monitor the water supply flow across the pipeline. ‘Jal Mitra’, a special citizen group, has also been formed by GMDA, which includes a representative from each of the defined locations, with whom daily readings and water supply records using CIWMS are shared.

“Every year the issue of water shortage was reported, especially from Palam Vihar & Dundahera, as they are the last points on the pipeline. With the highly efficient CIWMS, a proper distribution mechanism has been put in place, leakages and overflows are controlled. We can say that a judicious water supply is maintained across the board and we also have data to share with the citizens. We are working on taking this across to our major distribution channels and pipelines in the near future,” said PK Aggarwal, Smart City Adviser.

The GMDA CEO has directed that non-revenue water is to be further brought down by identifying non-metered connections and providing necessary flow control devices, RTUs etc. This may be done at around 10 locations by taking additional equipment where the pipe sizes are 3 inches or above on this pipeline route. Action will also be taken against illegal connections.