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Water Supply

No worry on water-front: Sheila

Wednesday, 24 February 2010 10:49 administrator
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Indian Express 24.02.2010

No worry on water-front: Sheila

Geeta Gupta Tags : water, delhi Posted: Wednesday, Feb 24, 2010 at 0057 hrs

New Delhi: While the Haryana government refuses to give Delhi its share of 80 million gallons of water saved each day once the Munak Canal gets operational, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit maintains there is little to worry.

The ball is now in the Prime Minister’s court and Delhi holds a strong case for itself, she told Newsline on Tuesday.

“I have spoken to the Prime Minister,” Dikshit said, “and he has asked me and Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to get together and resolve the issue. If the canal was constructed at Haryana’s suggestion to save water (with Delhi paying the entire project cost), we have a strong case.

I am sure the Haryana chief minister would understand.”

Delhi has spent more than Rs 315 crore for construction of the canal, now in its final stages. The canal between Munak in Haryana and Wazirabad in Delhi would help save water, and as per plans Delhi would get the additional quantum.

The flow of water through the regular canal could not be controlled and a lot of water was going waste,” Dikshit said. “The Munak Canal project was taken up at the suggestion of then Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala. While the construction was to be taken up by Haryana, the entire cost was to be borne by the Delhi government.”

But even as construction on the concrete channel is nearing completion, Haryana refuses to give Delhi the additional water that would be saved by channelising through this canal.

The concrete canal is expected to prevent loss of water through seepage along the Western Yamuna Canal — the present 30 per cent loss of water is expected to come down to about 5 per cent once the canal is operational. Once completed, it is expected to increase Delhi’s raw water supply by 80 million gallons a day (MGD) to run its three water treatment plants: the 20-MGD Okhla Water Treatment Plant, the 20-MGD Bawana plant, and the 50-MGD treatment plant at Dwarka.

Jal Board Member (Water Supply) R K Garg told Newsline that of the 80 MGD that would be saved, 43 MGD would be from the Ravi-Beas waters, which merely cross Haryana on route to Delhi.

“Only 37 MGD of this 80 MGD water is what would actually be coming from the Yamuna River in Haryana,” Garg said.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 24 February 2010 10:53
 

Civic chiefs to be held responsible for water woes

Wednesday, 24 February 2010 02:10 administrator
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The Hindu 24.02.2010

Civic chiefs to be held responsible for water woes

Special Correspondent

Suresh Kumar holds videoconference with city corporation chiefs and Deputy Commissioners

BANGALORE: Urban Development Minister S. Suresh Kumar on Tuesday warned Commissioners of seven city corporations in the State of holding them responsible if there was any problem in ensuring adequate supply of drinking water during the summer season.

The Minister, who reviewed the preparation of city municipal corporations for meeting the water supply, to prevent outbreak of epidemics in summer and progress of property tax collection as well as implementation of development works through videoconference along with Municipal Administration Commissioner Anjum Perwez for more than two hours from Bangalore, pointed out that the chiefs of all the city corporations had made it clear that there was no shortage of drinking water.

Whatever the problem existed was only regarding distribution of water and that related to pumping, he pointed out.

Mr. Kumar, who also interacted with Deputy Commissioners of the districts, directed the city corporation chiefs to ensure an “event-free summer period” by taking steps for proper supply of drinking water and preventive measures to check outbreak of epidemics especially water-borne diseases.

To ensure trouble-free summer, the Minister directed the city corporations to set up an exclusive control room, which works round-the-clock, to receive water supply-related complaints and to set up task forces to undertake repairs.

He set a deadline of 24 hours to rectify any pumping and borewell related problems from the time of receiving complaints.

He asked the city corporations to ban the open sale of cut-fruits and to prevent mosquito breeding as preventive health measures.

In a bid to bring about accountability among contractors who execute development works, the Minister directed the city corporations to put up boards displaying the names and telephone numbers of contractors near the places where development works have been executed.

Mr. Anjum Parvez asked the corporations to upload details on the progress of development works in their official websites.

He permitted the Mysore City Corporation to slap a penalty on the constructions in revenue sites towards the property tax.

But he made it clear that such a penalty had nothing to do with regularisation.

Some city corporations said they had plans to force defaulting property owners to pay the tax by taking up drum-beating exercise in front of their houses and also putting up their names on the notice boards.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 24 February 2010 02:12
 

Prepare to pay 10% more for water

Tuesday, 23 February 2010 10:53 administrator
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The New Indian Express 23.02.2010

Prepare to pay 10% more for water

Express News Service

 

BANGALORE: BWSSB is likely to hike water tariff by approximately 8 to 10 per cent in view of the recent hike in power tariffs.

P B Ramamurthy, BWSSB chairman told reporters on the sidelines of an interactive meet organised by the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI) that he has asked the government to increase the water prices in proportion to the recent hike in power tariffs.

BWSSB is among the largest consumers of power and annually pays around Rs 260 crore as electricity bill to Bescom, which is 51 per cent of its annual expenditure.

Further, a hike in water prices would also help the board to meet its deficit of Rs 45.97 crore.

“Our annual expenditure is on power is expected to touch 60 per cent due to the power tariff hike. That is the reason why we are pushing for a water price hike,” the BWSSB chairman said.

Earlier in his address, the BWSSB chairman noted that due to the declining water level in the reservoirs, the present water shortage in the city is 300 million litres per day (MLD).

He said water level at T G Halli reservoir, the main water source, had dipped by 13 feet compared to last year and the situation is bound to worsen.

The BWSSB will soon introduce a 24/7 call centre for consumer issues.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 23 February 2010 10:57
 
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