Amid the ongoing water crisis in Mohali,municipal councillor Kuljit Singh Bedi has said he will move court if the Punjab government did not act within 20 days to resolve the crisis. In case the government fails to solve the water woes within 20 days,I will move a competent court of law, Bedi said in a letter addressed to the Punjab Chief Secretary. In the communication,the councillor from Ward 27 said Mohali residents were facing an acute water shortage,but the authorities concerned havent bothered to make any arrangements to augment the supply. Bedi has also sent copies of the letter to Director Local Government,Mohali Deputy Commissioner,Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) Chief Administrator and Municipal Council Executive Officer. In the letter,he said that the Municipal Council,Water Supply Sanitation department and GMADA officials were passing the buck to each other without taking any steps to meet the demand. He said the four tube-wells approved by the civic body two years ago for Phases III-A,III-B-II,V and VII were not installed yet. Also,work to lay two more pipelines from Kajauli to supply 20 MGD additional water has not been undertaken,despite formal approval and sanction to the project two years ago,he added. Red-tapism is delaying work. Another summer has (almost) passed without resolving water shortage, Bedi said,demanding installation of tubewells and work to lay the pipelines. Against Mohalis requirement of around 20 MGD (million gallons per day) of water,only 13 MGD is available. Of this,a substantial amount is lost to leakages and thefts the authorities deny this widening the supply-demand gap by another 3 MGD during peak summer. Officials add that irrigating lawns and potted plants and filling room coolers raises the consumption by around 15 per cent. At present,the city spread on an area of 23.86 square km and divided into 31 wards gets 10 MGD water from Kajauli 3 MGD from 28 functional tubewells.
