Chandigarh losing one-third of daily water supply to leakage

At 35%, daily water wastage in Chandigarh is significantly higher than the 15% limit set under central norms

Around 35% of potable water being supplied to Chandigarh that can cater to over 5.5 lakh residents is being wasted daily due to underground leakage of pipes and unmetered water stands in colonies, shrinking the municipal corporation’s coffers by ₹1.5 crore annually.

A biker crossing near the water leakage in sector 47, Chandigarh. (Ravi Kumar/HT)

As per MC records, Chandigarh’s 12.6 lakh population consumes 386 million litres daily (MLD), coming to 245 litres per capita (per person) per day.

But 135 MLD (35%) of the total consumption includes water wasted due to leakages, significantly higher than 25% in 2018 and the 15% limit acceptable under the Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation norms.

Moreover, the daily consumption and availability of water is much higher than the estimated requirement of citizens, which stands at 225 MLD or 150 litres per capita per day (LCPD).

Discussing the increasing water wastage in city, MC commissioner Anindita Mitra said, “The city is receiving sufficient water from Kajauli Water Works and tubewells to meet the increasing demand of residents and we expect there will be no shortage till 2050. But the city is consuming excessive water due to either underground leakages or leakage in pipes at home, besides use of water for non-essential purposes.”

She attributed the underground leakages to decaying pipelines, which were laid decades ago when Chandigarh was established: “The old system needs to be replaced to conserve water, which is being undertaken through the 24x7 water supply project being executed by Chandigarh Smart City Limited (CSCL).”

“The 24x7 water supply project includes replacement of the damaged underground pipes and installation of ultrasonic smart water meters in houses to reduce water consumption as per requirement. Availability of round-the-clock supply will limit storage of potable water that is discarded later and the new pipelines will reduce underground leakage to 15%,” Mitra said, adding that the pilot project was already underway in Manimajra and around 1,500 of the total 13,700 water meters had also been replaced with ultrasonic smart ones.

“Also, around 43,500 water meters in the city have been lying defective for the past five years. As a result, consumers are getting a flat bill irrespective of the water consumption, causing further losses to MC. So far, only 2,541 residents have applied to get them replaced,” the commissioner said.

Summer challan drive of little help

While MC is losing ₹1.5 crore annually due to water wastage, in comparison it earns mere lakhs annually through its summer drive against water wastage, where residents are fined ₹5,000 from April to June every year for wasting water by watering lawns and washing cars.

So far this year, 17 challans have been issued for the violation, leading to fines worth ₹85,000. In comparison, there was 191 challans in 2022 ( ₹9.5 lakh); 266 in 2021 ( ₹13.3 lakh) and 111 in 2020 ( ₹5.5 lakh).