The situation has been grim for the last three days and tankers of the Municipal Corporation have been pressed into service for 180 times since Friday evening in various parts of the city (Representational/ File)
Although summer is yet to arrive, the city has already started reeling under a severe water crisis. The situation has been grim for the last three days and tankers of the Municipal Corporation have been pressed into service for 180 times since Friday evening in various parts of the city. It was only on the evening of March 9 that the water supply was to remain affected because of repair in a pipeline at Phase-III line near Pakki Rurki, Mankheri and at Sector 39 waterworks, Chandigarh. Since then, residents in sectors 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 28, 34, 37, 38, 39 and southern sectors from 40 to 51 have been receiving low water pressure.
According to a senior official of the Municipal Corporation, as many as 550 complaints of no water have been received since then and they are working on them. Chief Engineer Manoj Bansal said they were preparing for summer. “The pipelines of phase I and II are old and obsolete at the Kajauli waterworks. Since there have been leakages, shutdowns have to be observed for some time when repair is to be carried out,” he said. These frequent leakages in the pipelines are despite the fact that the Chandigarh MC pays Rs 1.6 crore to the public health department of Punjab government as maintenance charges besides Rs 27 crore for the electricity used for pumping water to the city.
Baljinder Singh Bittu, chairman of Federation of Sectors Welfare Association of Chandigarh, maintains that residents have been facing really tough time. “We thought that the water supply was to remain affected only for one evening but this weekend was really troublesome for residents. Is this smart city? A smart city is not the city where residents face trouble in even getting basic amenities like drinking water,” he said. Bittu added, “The population in Chandigarh has been increasing each day but the water system is still the same and not being upgraded. Moreover, for the last three years, the administration has been claiming that city would get additional 29 MGD water but to no avail. Summer is not here yet and water problem has already begun.” Tankers were pressed into colony areas as well.
The most affected were those residing in southern sectors and especially those staying on the first and second floors. “I just hope things get fine by tomorrow since the working days will start. It really gets difficult without water,” said Pradeep Chhabra, a resident of Sector 22 and city Congress chief.