No brakes on running taps as city slowly runs out of groundwater

Ludhiana: While the demand for water rises in the city with the rising temperature, many residents still continue with their daily activities, regardless of water wastage. At a time when many areas face water scarcity due to power cuts and technical snags with tubewells, the short-staffed municipal corporation (MC) has failed to keep a check on wastage of water by the defaulting citizens.
Many people are seen openly wasting water by washing their cars and cleaning their houses using pipes. While they openly flout environmental norms, the civic officials are yet to pace up the challaning drive against the same. The MC blamed their inaction against defaulters on poor manpower.
An MC official claimed, “We have shortage of manpower for keeping a check in the field. We keep on checking the areas every alternative week, but a regular drive is not possible. But as the temperature is increasing, there is an appeal to the public for judicious use of groundwater.”
Meanwhile, the state’s capital is working on saving the water, with Chandigarh MC kicking off a special drive to check water wastage and penalise all defaulters. Green activists in Ludhiana have demanded similar action in the district, to save the groundwater.
‘Residents, civic body equally responsible’
Civil Lines resident Robin Singh said, “Many times, pipes being used for watering the plants leak, and water gets wasted. Not only the pipes, but the water tankers which are used for watering plants are not up to the mark. The civic officials should take stringent action against those residents who waste water in any manner.”
The residents, however, have also held the MC responsible for the decreasing groundwater table of Ludhiana.
A resident of Haibowal, Harish Kumar said, “There is need to improve the groundwater level because life can’t be imagined without water. If residents are supposed to save water, then departments are equally responsible for the same.
“First of all. the government departments should install rainwater harvesting systems in their buildings.”