The Pioneer 13.09.2010
Kanpur reeling under severe water crisis despite rainBiswajeet Banerjee | Lucknow
Despite the region has received `over normal' rainfall this monsoon the industrial town of Kanpur is reeling under a severe water crisis thanks to the lax implementation of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).
The Jal Sansthan, the apex body, that is responsible to maintain pereneial pipeline water supply has blamed Jal Nigam for this crisis. "The JNNURM promises to solve this water problem permanently. But due to lax attitude of Jal Nigam officials the project has been delayed and people are forced to bear the brunt," R. Lal, the General manager Jal Sansthan said.
The worst affected areas of this city is the south Kanpur - inhabited by people of low income group. The hand pumps are not working while the Jal Sansthan's water supply is erratic. With this scenaro people are left with no option but to travel long distances and bring water on hand-pulled carts.
The worst affected areas are Juhi, Bara Devi, Nauryya Khera, Govind Nagar, and Jaurali Phase I.
Officials say due to the ongoing work at Lower Ganga Canal, the water supply has been disrupted. The canal sufficiently supplies around 50-60 mld of water to different parts of the city.
The city requires 520 mld of water and against it the availability is 410 mld. Thus, there is a daily deficit of 110 mld of water. Around 10 mld of water is supplied through Gujaini plant, 200 mld through Bhaironghat plant, 60 mld through lower Ganga canal plant, 30 mld by Ganga Barrage and 120 mld by hand-pumps and other sources.
"After the completion of JNNURM project the Ganga Barrage plant, which is presently supplying 30 mld of water, can provide 190 mld of water. But due to delay in water projects citizens have to face problems," Lal said.
Notably, the water supply projects sanctioned under JNNURM account up to Rs 650 crore. The project has been divided into two phases. Under phase I of water supply for old area of city, 200 mld water treatment plant, 38 clean water reservoirs and pumping heads, 14 overhead tanks and 700 km of water pipelines are to be laid. Whereas for the supply in remaining part of the city under phase II, 200 and 28.5 mld water treatment plants, 38 clear water reservoirs, 32 overhead tanks and 1,046 pipelines have to be developed.
The phase I project is scheduled to be completed by December, 2010 and phase II project by 2012. However, the senior officials in Jal Nigam C.S Chaudhry said: "Phase I project cannot be completed by 2010, due to insufficient funds. Though both the projects have commenced, but due to the deficiency of funds it is impossible to predict when the water problem would be completed."
