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After deluge, Mohali now battling dry taps
Such is the situation, hapless residents, even those living in tony sectors, have been forced to call in water tankers at personal cost to replenish their depleting overhead tanks
Still coming to grips with the trail of destruction left by the heavy rains on July 8, the residents of Mohali city are now grappling with an acute water crisis.
For nearly a week now, checking fresh water taps repeatedly, only to find them dry, and an even longer wait for the water to fill overhead water tanks once supply finally starts has left residents at their wits’ end.
Such is the situation, hapless residents, even those living in tony sectors, have been forced to call in water tankers at personal cost to replenish their depleting overhead tanks.
The public health department blamed water pipelines damaged by the heavy rain for the erratic supply, while mayor Amarjeet Singh Sidhu assured that proper supply will be restored in some sectors within 24 hours.
Majority of the city gets water from Kajauli waterworks, located on the Bhakra mainline canal near Morinda in Rupnagar district. Apart from Mohali, the waterworks also meet the requirement of Chandigarh and Chandimandir. The remaining Mohali areas rely on tubewells or borewells for daily supply.
On Friday, residents of Purab Premium Apartments, Sector 88, where there has been no water supply for four whole days, took out a protest march to highlight their plight.
Parwinder Singh Saini, treasurer of the Purab Premium Apartments Allottees’ Association, said not a single drop of water was available in the society for the past four days. “Besides buying bottled drinking water, residents have been forced to bring water from nearby villages for baths, and washing utensils and clothes. Elderly people living alone are the worst hit. Exasperated, the residents decided to stage a protest,” he added.
A delegation of residents later met Mohali MLA Kulwant Singh and submitted a memorandum. After the MLA pulled up officials, 10 water tankers were rushed to the society.
The situation in city’s prime Phase 7 is no different. Each evening, area residents can be seen lining up before water tankers to fill up their buckets.
“Water pressure has been extremely low ever since heavy rains battered the tricity region. Even ground floors are receiving water at low pressure. Residents are either making do by filling up buckets from low-lying taps or paying up to ₹1,000 for private water tankers to fill up overhead water tanks,” said Mayur, a resident of Phase 7.
Social activist and former PUDA official NS Kalsi said water supply had also been erratic in Phase 5 ever since the heavy rains on July 8 and 9.
Mayor Amarjeet Singh Sidhu said water supply in the city was under the purview of the Punjab public health department. “Considering the inconvenience caused to people, the municipal corporation is adopting alternative solutions, such as routing water through tubewells, hence the low pressure. By Saturday, around four more tubewells will be made operational that will improve the situation in some areas,” he added.
Public health department executive engineer Gurparkash Singh said the pipelines were damaged at many places due to flooding last week, adding that work was in progress to restore normal water supply.
Deputy mayor blames UT
Deputy mayor Kuljit Singh Bedi held Chandigarh and the bureaucracy responsible for the water scarcity in Mohali.
He requested Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann to take immediate action in the matter and provide equal share of water to Mohali from Kajauli water works.
He said Mohali got only 15 to 18 MGD of water from five pipelines of Kajauli water works that had been reduced to mere 7 MGD due to the damage caused by floods. On the other hand, Chandigarh, which was getting 107 MGD water, is presently getting over 80 MGD. He alleged that in giving priority to Chandigarh, rights of Mohali residents were being muzzled.