Mohali short of 10 MGD water,no respite in sight

At present,28 tubewells and Kajauli water quench thirst of over 3 lakh residents settled in 23.86 square km area divided in 31 wards with 10 Over Head Supply Reservoirs (OHSRs),two with 2 lakh gallons and eight with one lakh gallon capacity,one of them is out of order for a long time now. Besides,10 MGD canal water,3.2 MGD water was supplied from tubewells.

Even as the peak summer is yet to commence,water problems have slowly started to haunt Mohali,which will continue to reel under water woes till the gap between demand and supply was bridged.

The only long-term solution to install Phase V and VI Kajauli Water Works,which will supply 40 MGD canal water,seems a distant dream as GMADA,while citing shortage of funds for undertaking the project approved exclusively for Mohali,had referred the project to the Centre for funding under JNNURM.

As the thirst of Mohali and its satellite towns Nayagaon,Kharar and Kurali is getting aggravated with each passing day,official indifference had taken the estimated project cost from Rs 65 crore to Rs 115 crore in the last four years even after the land for laying canal water supply lines from Kajauli to Mohali had been acquired long back.

Residents of various phases and sectors have been complaining of low water pressure and the problem is worse for those who live far from the waterworks or are residing on first or second floors. In some areas,the situation is so bad that people are compelled to go without water whenever the waterworks develop snag.

However,the Water Supply and Sanitation department Executive Engineer HPS Dhillon claims he has received no major complaint as yet. “Despite inadequate system to quench Mohali’s thirst,we have not resorted to rationing this time,which was done every summer for the last decade,but are still ensuring daily 12-hour full pressure water supply,” said Dhillon.

However,15 new tubewells were approved only recently with the GMADA agreeing to bear expenditure on 10 and MC on five tubewells. But this stopgap arrangement,which would only augment 1.5 MGD water,was also unlikely to give any relief this summer as installation would take at least 3 months.

Officials explain that Mohali’s daily requirement is around 20 MGD while 13.2 MGD is actually available. However,substantial amount of water is lost in leakage and theft,which,however,the authorities deny. This further widens the gap,which rises by another 3 MGD during peak summer. Irrigation of lawns and potted plants together with filling room/desert coolers is responsible for around 15 per cent rise in consumption.

The Water Supply and Sanitation department’s 250 staffers are maintaining and operating water supply scheme of the Municipal Council,which lacks requisite technical workforce.

Expressing serious concern over the water woes,municipal councilor Kuljit Singh Bedi wants immediate installation of Phase V and VI of Kajauli waterworks to quench the Greater Mohali area’s thirst.