Rs 413-crore loan pact inked for 24x7 water supply in Chandigarh

Sandeep Rana

Chandigarh, September 14

Paving the way for the implementation of the ambitious 24×7 water supply project in the UT, Finance Ministry’s Department of Economic Affairs and Agence Française de Développement (AFD) signed a credit facility agreement to provide Rs 413 cr loan to the local Municipal Corporation in New Delhi today.

Saving groundwater

The key is to save groundwater, which is depleting at a rapid pace. Once complete, city will have sufficient water supply till 2050.Rs — Anindita Mitra, Chief Executive Officer, Chandigarh Smart City Limited

The corporation will now sign a project agreement with the AFD in the next few days. Besides the loan, the European Union (EU) is also providing a grant of Rs 98 crore for the project. The loan is to be repaid in 15 years with a six-year moratorium period. The amount will be repaid through water bills paid by residents. Rates will be increased after a few years. The total cost of the project is Rs 590 cr.

Project to cost Rs 590 crore

Rs 98 cr Grant being given by EU

15 years Period for loan repayment

6 years Moratorium period

The project is now in the initial implementation phase, with the expression of interest of the long-term technical assistance already floated and 17 bidders coming forward. The tendering process is expected to finish by yearend and the work on the project is likely to start early next year.

Anindita Mitra, Chief Executive Officer, Chandigarh Smart City Limited, said: “The key objective behind the project is to save groundwater, which is depleting at a rapid pace, thus becoming a major cause for concern for authorities. When the project comes to life, the city will have sufficient water supply at least till 2050.”

“The project will be monitored through the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system. Employees will keep an eye on the water supply network 24×7. The system will also keep a check on water meter tampering or other criminal or mischievous acts related to water supply in the city,” she added.

Meanwhile, work on the 24×7 water supply pilot project is already on in Mani Majra. The foundation stone was laid in November 2021.

The project involves a new waterworks with 4 million gallons of additional storage, 13,700 smart meters, 20 km of new supply lines and automated monitoring of the system.

This separate project is being executed at a cost of Rs 162 crore, including the cost of operation and maintenance for 15 years, and the work is expected to be completed by August 2023.

Jointless connection by MC in households

The MC will lay residential water connection instead of current system wherein residents themselves lay pipeline inside houses. It will stop water contamination as pipeline will be without joints

What it entails

• 269 km of water pipeline to be replaced
• Water pressure to be improved to 17 m as per guidelines
• Old machinery to be replaced with variable frequency drive (VFD) pumps
• 100% smart water metering; supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system for monitoring Current status
• The project is in its initial implementation phase, EoI for technical assistance floated
• Tendering process to finish by yearend, work likely to begin early next year