Haryana to expand capacity of Gurugram water supply channel

The Haryana irrigation department plans to expand the capacity of the Gurugram Water Supply Channel to increase raw water supply to the city.

The Haryana irrigation department will expand the capacity of the Gurugram Water Supply Channel from the current 175 cusecs to 686 cusecs within the next two to three years to increase raw water supply to the city.

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A senior irrigation department official said that a high-level meeting to discuss the detailed project report was held in Chandigarh on Tuesday and the department is likely to get an approval soon. Following the nod, the irrigation department will send a request for financial approval for the project, he said.

At present, raw water from the Yamuna is supplied to the city from Kakroi headworks through the GWS channel and the NCR water channel. The GWS channel which was built in 1992-1994 was remodelled in 2006 but the channel is currently in bad shape and due to this only 100 cusecs of water is released into the canal which actually has a capacity of 175 cusecs, irrigation officials said.

The officials added that the GWS channel was quite old and needed large-scale repair and remodelling, which would augment its capacity to carry water. “We have been working on reconstruction of the GWS channel for the last one year. A detailed project report on expanding the GWS channel was submitted to us by the consultant and we are analysing the technical details. A meeting regarding the remodelling was also held in Chandigarh on Tuesday and we are expecting that the DPR will be approved soon,” said Manjeet Hooda, executive engineer of the state irrigation department.

Irrigation department officials said that the expansion of the GWS channel was being taken up after the GMDA projected the additional requirement of water in Gurugram and adjoining areas to about 500 cusecs. According to the irrigation department, the water requirement of GMDA has been pegged at 200 cusecs, Mewat 100 cusecs, Bahadurgarh 58 cusecs, HSIIDC Gurgaon 60 cusecs, HSVP 35 cusecs and there are other agencies also which need more water.

Hooda further said that the remodelled GWS channel would not only cater to the water requirements of Gurugram but also supply raw water to the adjoining areas.

According to irrigation department officials, one cusec is equal to 2.45 MLD (million litre per day) and the irrigation department supplies water in cusecs as it deals in large volumes. When asked how the shortfall of 100 cusecs of water would be met during reconstruction, GMDA officials said that the water supply of 100 cusecs would be diverted to the NCR water channel and this water would be pumped further.

GMDA executive engineer, Abhinav Verma, said that since the population of the city is increasing, the demand for raw water would rise and the authority was working on increasing the storing and treatment capacity. “To augment the raw water supply, the GWS channel will be reconstructed and during that period the water will be diverted to the NCR water channel. There will be no problems about availability of raw water in the city during the remodelling of the GWS channel,” he said.