MC plans to focus on Ranneywell scheme to meet drinking water demand in Faridabad

The civic authorities have planned to focus on the Ranneywell scheme to meet the increasing demand of drinking water supply as part of the city’s Master Plan-2041. The number of Ranneywells (tapping water supply from the bed of the Yamuna river by constructing tubewells on its banks) is expected to go up three times in the next 15 years.

Though the city was getting a major part of the supply from the 22 Ranneywells, which were currently functional, the department proposed to set up another 44 Ranneywells to augment and meet the demand of the water supply by 2041, said an official of the Faridabad Metropolitan Development Authority (FMDA), which is responsible for the supply of water from the source in the city. He said while 22 Ranneywells were operational, the department had floated tenders for the construction of 12 more near the Yamuna river passing through the district.

The budget of this project is reported to be around Rs 180 crore.

The total number of such wells in the city is expected to go up to 66 in the next one-and-a-half decade as there is a proposal to construct another 32 Ranneywells in the next phase of the project.

With water being supplied from 17 ground tubewells in various parts of the city, the total availability of the drinking water is around 325 MLD, which is short by around 125 MLD, as the current demand is around 450 MLD. Besides these, the FMDA has planned to construct 60 new tubewells in the next one decade to tide over the crisis of the water supply shortage.

Ranneywell is a type of radial well-constructed into sand or gravel below the surface level of a river or lake. Here, wells have been constructed in the bed of Yamuna river to draw water and supply to the tubewells or boosting stations where water is treated and supplied further to residents through the existing supply network.

“The water supply crisis is being witnessed in many residential areas, especially the densely populated colonies here during the summer season, making residents resort to get water through private tankers or suppliers,” said an official of the Municipal Corporation, Faridabad (MCF). As part of the long term measure, he said the Ranneywell project was launched nearly 11 years ago at a cost of Rs 500 crore.

The Ranneywells have already been handed over to the FMDA to monitor supply from the originating point to the underground tanks of the MC.

FMDA Chief Engineer Vishal Bansal said the department was working on the augmentation of water supply through Ranneywells in order to meet the demand as per the Master Plan-2041.