Chandigarh was left high and dry on the second day of water supply disruption.
Many parts of the city reeled under severe water shortage on August 25 and 26 because of the scheduled repairs of the pumping machinery in the first two phases of the Kajauli waterworks.
The four phases of the waterworks, which channel water to the city from the Bhakra canal, supply 58 million gallons per day (MGD). With two of them being shut down, only half the water was being made available.
Though 27 MGD is supplied through tubewells, even on normal days, the supply falls short of the peak requirement of 110-115 MGD by around 30MGD.
MC commissioner KK Yadav said the fault in Phases 1 and 2 of the Kajauli waterworks was rectified by Monday evening.
Even as Yadav claimed water supply will normalise from Tuesday, municipal officials, who didn’t want to be named, admitted that it would take at least three more days for the underground reservoirs to fill up and supply to get back to normal in the city.
By Monday evening, the city was receiving 80% of the normal supply from the waterworks (around 46 MGD). Even as the normal figure of 58 MGD will be restored by Tuesday, Arun Sood, chairman of the MC water and sewerage committee, said arrangements have been made to supply water tankers, if required, to affected areas on Tuesday as well.
{{/usCountry}}By Monday evening, the city was receiving 80% of the normal supply from the waterworks (around 46 MGD). Even as the normal figure of 58 MGD will be restored by Tuesday, Arun Sood, chairman of the MC water and sewerage committee, said arrangements have been made to supply water tankers, if required, to affected areas on Tuesday as well.
{{/usCountry}}Residents decry poor arrangements
However, arrangements put in place on Monday were not enough, complained residents.
Kuljinder Sra, an advocate who resides in Sector 33, said he had asked for a tanker at 9am but it didn’t turn up till the evening. “While I had to go out of town for some work, my elderly parents were left alone with no water the whole day.”
Many residents alleged MC officials weren’t answering their phones. Tarsem Sharma, president of the Sector 40B Resident Welfare Association (RWA), said he had been calling up various officials since Saturday evening, but got no response. “I even visited the water filling station in Sector 15 on Monday, but the water tanker was not sent,” he alleged.
Meanwhile, Anish Garg, president of Residents Care Society in Sector 20, said he had to call for a private tanker to supply water in the area “since helplines provided by the MC remained engaged the whole morning”.
Some residents also accused the authorities of playing favourites while providing water tankers. “The common residents were left to fend for themselves while those close to councillors and officials besides bureaucrats were favoured,” alleged Sandeep Bhalla, secretary of the Sector 21 RWA.
Most plaints at Sector-15 pumping station
An MC official, who did not want to be named, said one tanker is supposed to supply water to four neighbourhoods. “However, due to acute shortage, tankers had to return to refill after visiting just two neighbourhoods. We don’t have means to know which neighbourhoods were left unless the residents inform us,” he said.
On Monday, the first complaint was received as early as 3:30am. Throughout the day, 731 calls were received for water tankers, of which around 600 were resolved, said an MC official.
The most number of complaints were received at the Sector 15 pumping station, which caters to Sector 22 and the neighbourhood.
“On Sunday, only 17 tankers were operational. On Monday, additional 50 tankers were put into service to meet the high demand,” said Arun Sood.
Sood said normally water tankers are filled at Sector 15 only, but on Monday all seven pumping stations were working. “It allowed us to fill more tankers and reach areas, such as Manimajra and Sector 47, that are far from Sector 15,” he said.
The number of complaints started dwindling by the evening, said an official.