3 yrs on, wait for Rs 3,394-cr 24x7 water supply project continues

Tribune News Service

Nitin Jain

Ludhiana, February 7

The 24x7 canal-based surface drinking water supply project has not yet taken off on the ground even three years after the ambitious project was conceived, officials have confirmed.

Even after two of the total four bids that had been received for the Rs 3,394.45-crore World Bank (WB) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) project had been found technically qualified almost five months ago, the work has not yet been awarded, it is learnt.

The Punjab Municipal Infrastructure Development Company (PMIDC) would soon award the work following the formal nod from the WB, the Municipal Corporation has said.

Much-needed project for city

It is the much-needed project for Ludhiana, where the groundwater table is depleting by 0.5 to 1 meter every year. By getting quality potable water round-the-clock, residents will also get respite from heavy metals and radioactive elements present in the groundwater. It will also improve health conditions of the city population. — Sanjeev Arora, Rajya Sabha MP

The development assumes significance as the wait for the ambitious project was still continuing even three years after its inception during the previous Capt Amarinder Singh regime.

Rajya Sabha MP from Ludhiana Sanjeev Arora told The Tribune on Wednesday that the state government had taken up the mega project on a priority basis and all-out efforts were being made to kick-start the ground work at the earliest.

Arora, who reviewed the progress of the scheme here recently, was briefed by MC Commissioner Sandeep Rishi that the tender for the execution of the project was called by the PMIDC, as per the detailed project report (DPR) formally approved by the WB, following which four bids had been received.

He apprised that the bids had also been opened and two bids had been found technically qualified on the basis of the technical evaluation report, following which the financial bids had also been opened.

“Financial bids are under process at the level of the PMIDC, which would allot the work shortly,” Arora was told.

The MC chief said the scheme would be executed in two phases with the first phase comprising raw water system, water treatment plant, treated water pumping and transmission mains from water treatment plant to overhead service reservoirs and the second part consisting distribution system and house service connection with metering process.

“As of now, the work on the first phase will be executed with the WB support while the second part work will be taken up subsequently under other schemes,” Rishi apprised the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) member in the Upper House of Parliament from Punjab.

Under the project, as many as 137 overhead supply reservoirs (OHSRs) and 173-km-long transmission main lines will supply 24x7 canal-based surface drinking water supply to residents of Ludhiana.

“The objective of the project is to shift from groundwater to surface water while supplying the essential commodity on a 24x7 basis,” the Rajya Sabha MP said.

Arora said 53.02 acres of land located just adjacent to the proposed raw water source in Bilga village had already been purchased for setting up the WTP.

The WB and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) had approved $105 million each in financial support for the ambitious project in March 2021.

The WB and the AIIB had in March last approved their respective 35 per cent financial aid share of $105-million each for the Punjab Municipal Services Improvement Project (PMSIP) to strengthen the urban services in Ludhiana and Amritsar, the two largest cities in the state. The remaining 30 per cent share, which amounts to $90 million, will be borne by the state government.

Salient features

Salient features of Phase I works include design of per capita water supply at 150 litres per capita daily (LPCD), raw water source from a distributary from the Sidhwan Canal, construction of 580-MLD capacity WTP at Bilga village, laying of 173-km-long transmission mainline of 150 mm to 2,000 mm and 55 new OHSRs.

The resolution for volumetric water tariff had been approved by the MC General House on November 10, 2020, while the state government on August 24, 2022, had notified the setting up of the seven-member WSS utility, headed by the Local Government Secretary as its chairman and the PMIDC CEO and MC Commissioner as the directors.

The overall scheme costs Rs 3,394.45 crore. Phase I works will cost Rs 1,252.51-crore, including land cost, while the Phase II projects will be undertaken at the cost of 2,141.94 crore, including Rs 700 crore for 10 years of operation and maintenance.

Three million beneficiaries

A major focus of the Punjab Municipal Infrastructure Improvement Project (PMSIP) will be on providing efficient water supply and sanitation services in Ludhiana and Amritsar, cities that are the engines of economic growth for the state. The improvements in the water supply will benefit more than 3 million people in 2025 and an estimated 5 million projected population in 2055. Industrial and commercial users would also benefit from the good quality reliable water supply.

It was on the recommendation of the then Captain Amarinder Singh-led state government that the project was approved by the Union Ministry of Finance’s Department of Economic Affairs and was posed to the WB and the AIIB for external financing.

The then Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan had assigned the PMIDC under the Local Government Department to initiate the PMSIP aimed at improving service delivery in Ludhiana and Amritsar by strengthening municipal governance finance and service delivery systems and capacities for the project with technical and financial support of the WB and AIIB financing.

To replace contaminated water

At present, Ludhiana and Amritsar draw their water by pumping out groundwater from hundreds of bore-wells dug up across the two cities. Pumping groundwater directly from these bore-wells leads to significant water loss and wastage as households are not incentivised to save. Studies have also revealed that Ludhiana’s groundwater was contaminated with nitrates and other heavy metals while Amritsar district’s with arsenic.

Future plan

The project will shift water supply from rapidly depleting and highly contaminated groundwater sources, to a centralised treatment plant drawing water from local canals (surface water sources). This shift was likely to have significant health benefits, studies have shown.

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