Faridabad development authority inks pact to improve water supply

Bijendra Ahlawat

Tribune News Service

Faridabad, August 17

To tackle the shortage of water supply in the city, the Faridabad Metropolitan Development Authority (FMDA) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB).

Bridging gap between supply & demand

• A team of experts of the Central Ground Water Board will provide a detailed feasibility report based on the technical analysis on the availability of the underground water sources within and outside the civic limits to the FMDA, looking after the bulk water supply system here on a regular basis
• This report will help the civic agency to prepare and carry out the plan for the augmentation of water supply network and bridge the gap between the demand and supply of potable water

A team of experts of the CGWB will provide a detailed feasibility report based on the technical analysis on the availability of the underground water sources within and outside the civic limits to the FMDA that looks after the bulk water supply system here on a regular basis.

According to official sources, this report will help the civic agency to prepare and carry out the plan for the augmentation of the water supply network and bridge the gap between the demand and supply of potable water here. This is for the first time that a MoU has been signed between the FMDA and the CGWB, which is also based locally. An official said the CGWB has agreed to provide technical support to the authority, which was handed over the work of providing bulk water supply around two years ago.

The feasibility report will provide the details of the areas and pockets where the availability of water had been good or stable and the regions where the water level had been deficient or poor, along with its quality, said an official of the FMDA, adding that this will help in the implementation of the scheme of installing new tubewells as half of the supply was based on underground water sources.

With the underground water table decreasing here, a stark difference in this level, which may range between 50 ft and 400 ft, has been noticed. While the water level in the areas close to the eastern parts that are near the Yamuna or the water bodies had been less than or around 100 ft, it has been above 250 ft in majority of the pockets located in the western parts, according to the sources. In the past, drying up of a large number of tubewells has led to a water supply crisis in many parts of the region during the summer season.

The FMDA has announced plans to construct 22 new Ranney wells, 70 tubewells and eight boosting stations to ensure a supply of 450 MLD within the next four to five years, it is stated. At present, the difference in the demand and supply is 150 MLD.

Vishal Bansal, FMDA Chief Engineer (water division), said the MOU was likely to prove helpful in tapping the water resources of the region in a proper manner.