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24x7 water supply finally a reality in Manimajra
Union home minister Amit Shah inaugurates long-pending project that will ensure continuous water availability with full pressure, even up to the fourth floor
Manimajra residents will now have access to round-the-clock water supply with Union home minister Amit Shah inaugurating the long-pending project on Sunday.
Addressing the gathering at the inauguration ceremony in Manimajra, the home minister said this project marked a significant milestone in Chandigarh’s journey towards sustainable water management and efficient service delivery to its residents.
He highlighted that the 24x7 water supply project, built at a cost of ₹75 crore, will greatly benefit the Manimajra area by ensuring continuous water availability with full pressure, even up to the fourth floor.
Shah praised Chandigarh for maintaining its original planned city form and acknowledged the persistent water supply challenges faced by the residents.
Sharing the project’s primary objectives, including switching from intermittent to continuous pressurised water supply, ensuring better water quality, reliability and effective supply-demand management, he said this initiative aligned with the service-level benchmarks set by the Union ministry of urban development.
These included 100% water supply coverage, assured per capita supply of 155 litres per capita per day (LPCD), 100% metering and maintaining non-revenue water levels between 15-20%.
UT administrator Gulab Chand Kataria, Rajya Sabha member Satnam Singh Sandhu, Union home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Intelligence Bureau special director Tapan Kumar Deka, UT adviser Rajeev Verma, Chandigarh Smart City Limited’s chief executive officer Anindita Mitra and former local MP Kirron Kher were also present on the occasion.
Praising Kher, Shah credited her efforts for the project seeing the light of day: “I am happy that she is present on the stage when the project is being inaugurated.”
In his address, UT administrator Gulab Chand Kataria said residents of Manimajra will highly benefit from this project as the continuous supply system will provide better water quality and households will get better pressure of water, sufficient to fill tanks up to the fourth storey, thus lowering the pumping costs.
He emphasised that public participation was crucial in understanding the issues, recognising the areas requiring improvement and evolving strategies for future planning.
₹412-crore loan riding on MC
Notably, to execute the project, the Chandigarh municipal corporation has taken a loan of ₹412 crore from French government’s Agence Francaise de Developpement, to be repaid in 15 years.
During the House meeting in March, municipal commissioner Anindita Mitra had shared that from December 2029, MC will return ₹40 crore annually to the French government in the form of hiked water tariffs.
“The loan is required to be repaid on a quarterly basis over a period of 15 years after completion of the project, which is expected by December 2029. The instalment will be around €1 million quarterly, which means ₹10 crore,” she had said.
Once the project is completed, the hiked water tariffs will be notified by the Chandigarh administration and will be almost double the rates than those being charged at present.
Congress, AAP skip inauguration
Member of Parliament Manish Tewari and mayor Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor were conspicuous by their absence at the inauguration.
When contacted, the mayor said, “Unfortunately, my name and that of Chandigarh MP Manish Tewari were not written on the invitation card for the inauguration programme. The municipal corporation has twice passed a proposal to provide 20,000 litres of free water to city residents, but the BJP is deliberately obstructing it to keep city residents away from the facility of free water. On the other hand, loans worth crores are being taken in the name of providing 24-hour water, the entire burden of which will fall on the people of Chandigarh.”
Thus, he stayed away from event, said Dhalor, adding that till date, no resident had demanded 24-hour water supply. “The BJP is forcibly imposing this project on city residents and wasting crores. Instead, once residents get 20,000 litres of free water, it will make their lives easier and reduce the financial burden on them,” he added.
Foreign funding will burden people: Congress
Welcoming the implementation of 24x7 water supply in Manimajra, the Chandigarh Congress expressed objection to the mode of funding for the project, stating the heavy foreign debt will put “an unbearable burden on residents of the whole city”.
Rajiv Sharma, official spokesperson of Chandigarh Congress, said it would have been in the interest of the city and its residents, if the project had been funded through MC’s own resources.
Alleging that the BJP had turned a resource-surplus MC into fund-starved one, the Congress spokesperson said when the BJP took over the reins of Chandigarh MC in 2015, it had sufficient funds to finance the ₹500-crore project from its own resources. But the mismanagement and corruption that prevailed in the corporation for eight years till the beginning of 2024 ensured that the municipal body was now so short of funds that the major development works in the city had to be stopped by none other than the municipal commissioner.
The Congress spokesperson further stated that if the BJP was still very keen to ensure 24×7 water supply in the city, the BJP-led central government could have come forward to provide funds for it. “On the contrary, the corporation run by them has burdened the city by taking a foreign loan, which will now be paid out with interest out of the pockets of the city residents,” he said.
Congress leaders put under house arrest
Apprehending that the Congress might hold protests during Shah’s visit, Chandigarh Police placed two leaders — former Youth Congress president Harmail Kesri and Chandigarh Youth Congress Sandeep Kumar—under house arrest. Police parties reached their houses and told them not to step out.
NDA will again form govt in ’29 with Modi at helm, says Shah
At the inauguration, Amit Shah lashed out at the Opposition for raising questions about the strength of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the Centre, asserting that the alliance will not only complete its third term but also return to power in 2029.
“I want to assure you (people) that let the Opposition make a fuss, you do not worry. In 2029 also, the NDA will come (to power), (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi ji will come,” he said.
“They (Opposition) feel that with some success, they have won elections. They do not know that the BJP won more seats in this election (2024 Lok Sabha poll) than the number of seats the Congress got in the past three elections... The BJP alone has more seats than the total number of seats which their whole alliance has,” he added.
Though the BJP emerged as the single largest party, winning 240 seats in this year’s general elections, it fell short of the simple majority mark of 272 in the 543-member Lok Sabha, making it dependent on allies to form the next government. Overall, the BJP-led NDA enjoys a comfortable majority with 293 seats.
The opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), which won 236 seats, has continuously attacked the BJP, saying it is no longer in majority and should shed its “arrogance”.
The BJP alone has more seats than the total number of seats which the Opposition alliance has, Shah said. “I want to assure the Opposition that not only will this government complete its five-year term, the next term will also be of this government. Be ready to sit in the opposition and learn to work effectively in the opposition,” he added.
Speaking about the water scenario in the country, Shah said 74% of houses in India today had clean water.
“Chandigarh alone has seen development works worth ₹30,000 crore in the last 10 years and over ₹500 crore are being spent on making a world-class railway station,” he said.
“Whether it is getting five sewerage treatment plants, clearing 20 acres of land from legacy waste or making the Integrated Command Control Centre (ICCC), the city has seen several development works. Due to the ICCC, traffic violations have reduced by 40% and accidents have decreased by 31%,” Shah added.
