Open House: What steps should be taken to ensure taps don’t run dry during the summer

Water cannot be supplied to households in absence of power. To overcome the problem, people should curtail the use of air conditioners till May 31 as these appliances consume a lot of electricity. Simultaneously, efforts should be made to check power thefts. People should switch off fans and lights if not required, whether at office or home. At government institutions, wastage on these fronts is the maximum as no one is held accountable for it. Not only that the power is wasted in such cases, the bills are paid from taxpayers’ money.

KC Rana, Chandigarh

People must do their bit in saving water

The answer to the problem lies a lot more with people only. They can take small measures to check wastage of water like closing taps while brushing teeth, avoiding use of shower and instead use buckets, stop washing vehicles with hosepipes and spraying recycled water on plants. Also, rainwater harvesting should be propagated and encouraged. On their part, the authorities must cut down on the number of swimming pools operating in a city when summer is at its peak and people are forced to go without water even for drinking purpose. The water of pools opened during the period should be recycled. Fountains and water bodies meant for ornamentation should be discontinued till monsoon.

Bubby Soin

Check wastage, prevent crisis

Wastage leads to power cuts and water shortage. Freebies, rebates and subsidies on power and water result in their wastage. People must understand that amount charged for water is far less than the cost the government incurs in supplying it. Judicious use of water and power can help their smooth supply and prevent crisis.

Ashok Kumar Goel, Panchkula

Save earth from drying up

The April this year has been the hottest so far, apparently due to global warming. We all need to check our carbon footprints so as to contain the warming up of the earth’s average temperature, leading to water crisis. The day will not be far when our continued carelessness will convert earth into a parched land. It is high time people thought about it. Let us all work together to make this planet a better place to live.

Bir Devinder Singh Bedi

People should act responsibly

It would not be wrong to say that the third world war would be for water. The whole world is facing problems due to the scarcity of water. The elixir of life needs to be used judiciously. If residents do not understand their responsibility towards conserving resources, the administration must penalise them. In a nutshell, collective efforts of the government and citizens can ensure there is no shortage of power and water.

Garv Bhupesh, Panchkula

Create awareness on severity of situation

People need to be educated and made aware of the severity of the situation. Be it banners, advertisements, visuals or formation of WhatsApp groups, the administration must not leave any stone unturned in educating the residents. Just penalising them or imposing fine would not be enough. “Every drop counts” should be the motto and must be put across clear and loud. All leakages must be plugged immediately.

Anju Mohan, Panchkula

UHBVN, HSVP must synergise

Utter lack of coordination between two key departments, the HSVP and the UHBVN, has led to power cuts and dry taps in Panchkula. This at a time when both water and electricity are basic needs of each citizen in this hot summer. This has happened due to absence of a nodal agency to oversee their day-to-day functioning and to ensure that a constant coordination between the two key departments. Such an agency will work on feasible options to ensure that residents do not have to face the traumatic conditions again.

SC Luthra, Chandigarh

Onus on govt, residents alike

Water shortage in Panchkula during summer days is disheartening. The Panchkula administraton should try to ensure minimum required quantity of water is supplied to residents. If taps run dry, arrange water tankers for them. Why should the residents suffer when they pay huge taxes? At the same time, residents should not wash their vehicles using hosepipes and waste water. They should rather fill buckets for the purpose. Cooperation of both sides will help prevent water crisis in future.

MR Bhateja, Nayagaon

Dedicate line to power tubewells

With the onset of summer, power cuts and water woes become common in Panchkula. It has been happening year after year. Like previous years, the administration miserably failed to provide these basic amenities to residents this year too. Scheduled and unscheduled power cuts lasting six to eight hours every day for the past few days adversely affected almost every household. It sounds bizarre that the UHBVN scheduled power cuts in the morning and evening hours at a time when water is being supplied in the city. Lack of coordination between two wings led to a pathetic state of affairs. In the absence of supply, residents were forced to buy water by calling tankers. The administration must take necessary steps to ensure uninterrupted power supply by creating dedicated lines to tubewells so that citizens are not made to suffer in this scorching summer, at least on water front.

Dr Dinesh Kumar Verma, Panchkula

Run pumping station on solar energy

Summer heat can be a boon too if one comes to think of free solar energy that can be generated as sun shines bright. Alas, summers come with power cuts due to multiple reasons leading to water crisis, not because of scarcity of water but due to the dependence of pumping stations on electricity. Solar power-backed water pumping stations can be a solution to such crisis which residents face every year.

Chetan Verma, Gharuan

Government caught off-guard every year

Power demand rises during summer and often leads to crisis. The government does not prepare for the imminent situation and caught off-guard every year. Neither enough coal is stocked for the peak season, nor thermal power plants checked regularly. Long power outages often hit water filtration and supply. People should not suffer in such a situation and at least supplied drinking water through tankers.

Sukhwant Bhullar, Chandigarh

Power saved is power produced

The graph of power cuts and low water pressure goes very high in summer months in the tricity. There is a great saying – power saved is power produced. At the onset of summer, we must start saving power and water. We must ensure switching off all lights and turning off water taps when going out of house. NGOs, schools and social organisations can play a great role in educating people on water and power conservation during summers. Charity must begin at home at the outset to prevent water and power crises, which often come hand in hand.

Col TBS Bedi (retd), Mohali

Check use of water booster pumps

As soon as water supply comes early in the morning, tanker owners fill all their tankers and also their overhead tanks using booster pumps. Their acts first lead to low water pressure due to which overhead tanks at people’s houses remain empty, and then the common man has to requisition the water tankers by shelling out a hefty amount. The HSVP, along with the UHBVN, should dedicate some employees towards checking the use of booster pumps during the supply hours.

Savita Kuthiala

HSVP should End dependence on UHBVN

Since the start of April, the water supply has been disturbed and the public is facing a lot of inconvenience. The peak summer is yet to arrive. Why cannot the water wing of HSVP purchase its own generator sets and keep relying on the UHBVN for power supply? Why should residents made to keep waiting for power and water in the scorching summer? Furthermore, HSVP should urge the state government to request for increasing its share from the Bhakra dam.

Sanjay Chopra, Mohali

Cut the timings of water supply

The government must ensure the availability of power to water works and booster pumps. Further, supply timings can be curtailed but the residents must be informed in advance.

Bharat Bhushan Sharma

A stitch in time saves nine

Water crisis in Panchkula is outcome of lack of coordination between two departments. The two agencies should work in tandem so as to mitigate the sufferings of residents. The government should take pre-emptive measures to escape such crises. People too need to act wise and switch off appliances running uselessly.

Vidya Sagar Garg, Panchkula

Every drop counts; save it for next gen

Electricity and water are basic needs of people and must be provided to them on a priority basis. The HSVP and the UHBVN should coordinate to fulfill the daily requirement of residents. If needed, some higher authority must intervene. Camps should be organised in different parts of the city to motivate people to show prudence in the use of power and water. They should be prevailed upon to not waste these. Remember the lake gets drained drop by drop. Next generation will face difficulties if the administration and the public did not act wise today.

Sumesh Kumar Badhwar, Mohali

Adopt rainwater harvesting

It is the duty of the government to provide water and electricity to its people. Solar energy should be exploited and rainwater harvesting should be adopted. Washing of vehicles and verandahs and watering of lawns and gardens should be banned during summers and the government should ensure its compliance.

Abhilasha Gupta, Mohali

Water works should get power 24×7

Water becomes all the more essential in hot summer. Today, due to lack of coordination between the HSVP and the UHBVN, taps are running dry in Panchkula. The water crisis can be resolved only when topmost priority is accorded to supply of power to the water pumping stations. There should be no power cut at the water pumping stations.

Adite Dhadwal, Chandigarh

Need to increase green cover

The need of the hour is to bring more area under green cover. This would help maintain the water cycle. More muddy land will seep more water, which would aid recharging of groundwater. The result will be better supply of water.

Charu Malhotra, Mohali

Draw water as per requirement only

During summer, the water situation is really worrisome in the Panchkula region. People should not draw water more than their needs. An excessive use and wastage of water can lead to problems. The HSVP and the UHBVN should make a strategy to resolve any water crisis in time. Also, better sense must prevail on people wasting water or such violators should be punished with hefty penalties.

Sandeep Rawat, Chandigarh

Blame it on water mismanagement

It is a common knowledge that the world is running out of fresh water, thanks to the unsustainable model of development. Water in some of the Indian cities may be a scarce commodity, but mismanagement of available water only left the tricity residents at the receiving end. The Municipal Corporation should start checking water wastage from the month of April. It should depute executives to challan those wasting water in the morning hours.

SK Khosla, Chandigarh

Small steps can prevent scarcity

People need to follow certain steps to ensure taps do not run dry during the summers. While drink from the tap, close it when you have your fill. Don’t pour more water in a glass than what you need. Don’t play too much with water. Water plants with the help a watering can, not hosepipe. Harvest rainwater. Plug leakages.

Adish Sood, Amloh

Dispensation must end the crisis

There is no denying that the recurring unannounced power cuts in Chandigarh and two adjoining satellite townships – Panchkula and Zirakpur, more often than not, lead to low water pressure, leaving a vast majority of residents high and dry. Panchkula witnessed a serious water crisis in the recent past, forcing residents to requisition water tankers to meet their daily needs. The problem aggravated due to the lack of synergy between the HSVP and the UHBVN. The authorities concerned should take an urgent call on the acute water crisis arising out of the back-to-back power outages, thus ensuring an unhindered supply of potable water to the tricity residents.

Ramesh K Dhiman, Chandigarh

Get innovative on water conservation

Water is a precious natural resource and it is everyone’s responsibility to take steps to conserve it. Power cuts and water supply at low pressure in many parts of Panchkula and other urban areas accentuated the potable water shortage. Citizens are paying from their pockets to meet their water needs even as it is the government’s responsibility to fulfill the requirement. Without water, we cannot think of any form of life. Innovative methods for conserving water such as rainwater harvesting, generating grey water, etc, have to be started on a large scale.

Dr Anil Kumar Yadav, Chandigarh

Govt should be summer ready

The first and foremost measure to avoid water crisis is to ensure there is no wastage. People waste more water than what they actually need for their routine works. The administration swings into action only after a problem arises and gets accentuated to become a crisis. Planning in advance and coordination between the two key departments would ensure things do not go out of hand again. It is a joint effort of people, who should stop water wastage, and the administration, which should prepare well in advance for summers and ensure better coordination among its departments, that 24X7 water supply can be ensured to the residents throughout the year.

Avinash Goyal, Chandigarh

Sensitise people, impose curbs

The water crisis of Panchkula shows that mankind has wasted water to such an extent that we don’t have sufficient water even to quench our thirst. To solve the crisis, the authorities should come out of the denial mode and accept that there is a shortage of water. Awareness should be spread on conserving water and temporary curbs should be imposed on activities that require a lot of water. In the long run, rainwater harvesting can be of great help. It should be made compulsory for big households and housing societies.

Saikrit Gulati, Chandigarh

Save power, tap solar energy

The problems of power cuts and poor water supply have become common in summers. Until there is an improvement in power generation, people should save electricity. Fans should not be used to dry floors after wet mopping, neon and decorative lights in the marketplaces should be switched off after 9 pm and make optimum use of air conditioners. The government should encourage people to install solar power panels on the rooftops of their homes. It can increase subsidy and incentives for those tapping the solar energy. Nobody would mind small rotational outages to divert power to essential services like water supply pumps and hospitals. Educate public to make judicious use of electricity during crisis.

Sqn Ldr Manjit Singh Johar (retd), Chandigarh

QUESTION

A sudden spurt in snatchings has been witnessed in Chandigarh as 55 such incidents have already been reported this year. What steps should the UT police take to check such cases and instill fear among snatchers?

Suggestions in not more than 70 words can be sent to openhouse@tribunemail.com