Indian Express 05.10.2010
Work begins to bring 40 MGD potable water to Mohali
Nitin Jain Tags : GMADA, MGD, Bhakra main line Posted: Tue Oct 05 2010, 03:20 hrs
Mohali: Work has finally begun to quench the thirst of Mohali by bringing 40 MGD (million gallon daily) water from Bhakra main line (BML) in Kajauli to the district.Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) has floated tender to invite bids from the interested contractual agencies to execute Phase V and VI of Kajauli waterworks scheme at an estimated cost of Rs 335 crore within three years.GMADA will hold a pre-bid conference here on October 11 to answer the queries of the interested firms before submission of complete pre-qualification bid till October 19 when the received bids will be opened to shortlist the most eligible firm offering to work at minimum cost, a senior GMADA official told Newsline on Monday.
While according a formal nod to the project last month, Department of Housing and Urban Development had decided that under Phase V and VI of the scheme, only single pipeline of double size/capacity capable of supplying 40 MGD water would be laid instead of two separate pipelines of 20 MGD water capacity each as were laid in the presently functional four phases.
GMADA will execute the work and the expenditure will be met from funds available under the external development charges (EDC) recovered from the promoters of mega projects besides GMADA’s own sources. Land required for laying the pipeline is already available.
A committee, constituted for the selection of site for water treatment plant and pumping station at Mohali, has suggested few sites, among which the most suitable will be selected shortly.
Work pertaining to the laying of pipelines under phase V and VI and construction of pumping station at Kajauli will be undertaken immediately in view of the land being available while acquisition of land for water treatment plant and pumping station at Mohali will be initiated simultaneously.
A joint scheme mooted earlier by Punjab government and Chandigarh Administration provides for laying six pipelines bringing 20 MGD water each from the BML to waterworks in Sector 39, Chandigarh. The scheme provides that four pipelines were meant to supply water (80 MGD) to Chandigarh and the remaining two pipelines will be laid for supplying water exclusively to Mohali. The cost of land acquired for this purpose was also shared accordingly by Chandigarh Administration and Punjab.
While Chandigarh Administration had contributed two-third of the land cost, Punjab’s share was one-third. A 50-feet-wide strip of land was acquired initially for laying six pipelines of 20 MGD capacity each from Kajauli to Chandigarh waterworks. Four pipelines of Chandigarh’s share have already been laid and the remaining land was meant for Punjab’s share of 40 MGD through two pipelines to be laid, divulged the release.
Since Chandigarh does not have any share in water available/running in BML, Punjab and Haryana were being given 2.5 MGD and 1.5 MGD water, respectively, from each pipeline laid by Chandigarh Administration. Accordingly, Mohali got 10 MGD water from the existing four phases of Kajauli waterworks. At present, Mohali gets 13 MGD water against its requirement of 23 MGD as compared to Chandigarh being supplied MGD against requirement of 70 MGD.
