Chandigarh, April 28
Supply of potable water through pipelines will soon be part of history. People will have to get their daily quota of potable water from the nearest reverse osmosis (RO) centre.

However, this quota of purified water will be just enough to meet an individual’s demand for drinking and cooking purposes.

The National Public Health Organisation has recommended 150 litre per capita per day (LPCPD). Instead of meeting that requirement, Punjab is still making efforts to enhance the quota of daily potable water supply from 40 LPCPD to 70 LPCPD.

“We have submitted a proposal to the NABARD for 596 more RO units at a cost of Rs 64 crore. Once the scheme is approved, we will get them commissioned before the end of the current financial year,” says Paramjit Singh Aujla, Secretary, Water Supply and Sanitation, Punjab.

He says underground water in southern parts of the state is brackish with high quantity of fluorides. In the Majha belt, potable water is available at a depth of 300 to 400 ft. Water from hand pump with depth of human consumption.

Chandigarh gets its supply from both Bhakra mainline canal and underground. Interestingly, the LPCPD for Chandigarh is the highest at 330 against the national standards of 150 LPCPD.

Interestingly, the LPCPD for Chandigarh is the highest at 330 against the national standards of 150 LPCPD.

But unfortunately, complaints of dirty water in piped supply are frequent. Chandigarh also reportedly heads the list of water wastage in distribution (26 per cent).

In Jalandhar, water woes began when eight to 10 motors attached with MC tubewells went out of order. The MC was forced to rush water tankers to the affected areas.

Chogitti, Panchwati Mandir in Basti Gujan reeled under water scarcity for the past two days.

Residents of Shivrajgarh Mohalla have complained of getting water contaminated with sand. The only tubewell in the area has been closed. The water is being supplied from tubewells in nearby areas like Phagwara Gate and Partap Bagh.

Water blues surface in various parts of Bathinda every summer as supplies get restricted to only two hours each in the morning and evening.

Seerian Wala mohalla (near bus stand), Pujaan Wala mohalla, Fort area, Ganesha Basti, Model Town area (phase 1), Veer Colony, Awa Basti, Sanjay nagar, Sanguana Basti, Kartar Basti are facing acute water shortage.

Residents of Pujaan Wala mohalla and Fort area have to daily fetch water from nearby RO plants, set up by the Bathinda municipal corporation (BMC), at the rate of 10 paisa per litre (Rs 2 for a container of 20 litres). Some private companies supply chilled drinking water also.

Superintending Engineer (SE) BD Singla said the BMC supplied water through tankers to seven to eight colonies where water pipeline had not been laid so far. A cursory comparison of data of underground water is interesting. The Agriculture Department maintains that the minimum depth of groundwater in Ajnala is 7 m (24.34 ft), while the maximum depth is 21.85 m (72.979 ft).

The Municipal Corporation Amritsar (MCA) says the groundwater table has reached 80 ft in the walled city. In the same area, water was found at the depth of 20 to 30 ft about two decades back.

Presently, there are 301 tubewells in the city. There is a proposal to install 50 more.

Patiala city gets water supply for 8 to 9 hours a day but many parts of the city face problems of low pressure. In Angooran Wali Mosque and Bagichi Het Ram, the people have to queue up for water for hours.

While most of the areas in Kharar and Ropar are receiving adequate water supply, things might not be the same in the coming weeks.

Ropar city’s daily requirement is 17.5 lakh gallons. “We are trying to give cent per cent water supply. An installment of Rs 1 crore has already been released to the agency handling it,” claims executive officer SS Sidhu.

Mata Rani Wali mohalla and other areas situated at higher attitude were the first ones to be struck by water scarcity.

The MC has been mainly drawing water from the Sirhind canal to meet the city’s requirements. For this, a siphon has been installed that pumps up water into storage tanks and further distributes to other areas. This siphon often ends up air-locked, thus paralysing the system for over 24 hours. “It happens twice or thrice every month,” reveal sources.

Talking about the quality of water, people say they have installed RO equipment at their homes, while the poor have to manage with dirty water.

The Shakespearean dilemma of “water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink” holds true for Gurdaspur, as this district has the Ravi and Beas flowing through, yet, its people are starved of quality drinking water.

“The quality of water being supplied from a majority of the 12 tube wells here is not good. We need RO plants,” says Geetanjali, a schoolteacher. Water supply and sanitation in Gurdaspur and adjoining areas like Batala and Pathankot continue to be inadequate.

President of the Gurdaspur Municipal Council Santosh Riar says, “We are trying to establish more tubewells and replacing the old rusty pipelines that supply water to the houses.”

Says Pathankot-based Dinesh Mahajan, director of HUDCO, “Water tends to get mixed with sewerage due to leakage of the pipes that were laid nearly 30 years ago. The problem is particularly severe in ward numbers 8,9,10, 18, 19, 26 and 32. Some years ago, the people were caught in the vice-like grip of jaundice due to contaminated water supply.”

People of Batala, too, complain of getting contaminated water. President of the Batala Municipal Council Ambika Khanna says, “We are in the process of replacing old water pipelines. I have also got two more tubewells installed, bringing the total to 15.” Long queues at water supply centres could be seen in areas of Rajpura and Banur and in Mandi Gobindgarh, too. “It’s a chronic problem and every year jaundice hits slum areas. The worst-affected areas are Gandhi Nagar, Shanti Nagar, Dashmesh Colony and Aery Mill Road,” says Rajesh Bhatia, a private school principal in Shanti Nagar area.

There are 21 interconnected tubewells in Mandi Gobindgarh. Even though the residents get water, it is not worth human consumption. The water level has dipped to 300 ft. Executive officer Ranbir Singh says the problem of impure water in some areas is due to old water pipelines in some of the houses. “We have advised people to get these worn-out pipes changed. Water samples have also been taken from these areas,” he says.

In Ludhiana, shortage of water rocked the recent MC General House meeting. Residents of a part of the city did not get water for about 6-7 days due to some technical problem.

The status of drinking water supply cannot be improved without proper chlorination. However, the tubewells, the maintenance of which has been given on contract by the MC, are functioned unattended. The chlorine dozers are not properly attached to the tubewells. In some tubewells, dozers remain dry in the absence of chlorine.

In acute summers during shortage of water, slum dwellers residing on Pakhowal Road, Gyaspura, Jawadi etc., are forced to fetch water from elsewhere. For them, even MC tankers are not sent for water supply.

Councillors have asked the authorities to charge monthly bills on meter-basis. The time of water supply in Ludhiana is between 5-9 am and 5-9 pm. But due to prolonged power cuts, residents continue to face water shortage.

With inputs from Neeraj Bagga, Deepkamal Kaur, Shivani Bhakoo, Sushil Goyal, Gagan K. Teja, Gurdeep Mann and Megha Mann