Chandigarh 24x7 water supply project’s deadline pushed back 2 years

Officials aware of the developments officials attribute the delay in water supply project to inclusion of all 13 villages in the project

Even seven months after the Chandigarh municipal corporation (MC) appointed a long-term technical assistant (LTTA) to prepare the tender documents for the 24x7 water supply project, the tenders have not been floated. The LTTA was appointed in February.

MC public health superintending engineer Harjeet Singh said the project is in the planning stage and will be delayed due to the inclusion of the 13 villages that were transferred to the civic body in 2019 (HT File)

Officials aware of the developments said that after this delay, the project’s deadline has been pushed back by two years, from 2026 to 2028.

The officials attribute the delay to inclusion of all 13 villages in the project. In December 2022, the MC and the French government’s Agence Française de Développement (AFD) signed the final project agreement, with a target of completion by 2026.

MC public health superintending engineer Harjeet Singh said the project is in the planning stage and will be delayed due to the inclusion of the 13 villages that were transferred to the civic body in 2019.

He confirmed that the project’s deadline has been pushed back by at least two years. “A single-stage tender will be now floated instead of a two-stage process,” he added.

He added that the LTTA has been instructed to expedite the project and prepare a request for proposal (RFP) detailing the project’s phased execution.

Conceived in 2016, the project has a financial outlay of ₹578 crore, of which ₹412 crore will be provided by AFD as a loan to be repaid over 15 years.

The European Union will contribute a grant of ₹100 crore and Chandigarh Smart City Limited will cover ₹68 crore of the cost. The project will be implemented in phases, dividing the city into 55 district metering areas (DMAs), with each DMA covering nearly a sector.

The first sector is expected to receive round-the-clock water supply by the end of this year, and the city will be covered by 2028.

The project aims to minimise water wastage by providing continuous high-pressure supply, reducing the need for water storage.

Other objectives include increasing water resource efficiency through leakage reduction, smart metering, reducing dependence on groundwater and monitoring energy consumption.

Sensors in the supply system will measure real-time water consumption, levels and flow rates. Smart meters will provide consumers with data to monitor their usage and reduce costs and allow for remote monitoring and billing.

Around 270 km of the city’s supply network, which is currently not suited for high-pressure supply, will be replaced.