Residents will finally get respite from the water shortage woes in summer, as Mohali is set to receive additional supply of 20 million gallons daily (MGD) from Phases 5 and 6 of the Kajauli waterworks from March 31.
The additional supply will primarily benefit Sectors 66 to 69 and 76 to 80, where around 50,000 residents were so far getting water from tubewells.
Majority of the rest of the city already gets 10 MGD water from Phases 3 and 4 of the 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 new sectors, which are all under MC now for water supply maintenance, will be getting canal water from March 31 after the trials conclude. Thereon, supply from tubewells will be stopped and underground reserves will be used only in case of emergency,” said MC commissioner Kamal Kumar Garg.
Sector 80 councillor Kuljinder Kaur said the additional supply will benefit residents greatly, as they had been suffering due to low and contaminated supply, besides shortage during summer.
For the past several years, Mohali has been reeling under acute water shortage as the gap between the demand and supply stretches up to 12 MGD during peak summer.
So far, against the peak demand of 32 MGD, Mohali had been getting 10 MGD water from the older phases of Kajauli waterworks and 10 MGD from 75 tubewells. The addition of 20 MGD will ensure ample water supply for the city.
5 MGD to be supplied to Kharar
A GMADA official said some portion of the additional water will be used to cater to the needs of Kharar and Morinda. “Kharar will get its share of 5 MGD potable water from Phases 5 and 6 of the Kajauli waterworks to overcome scarcity of drinking water and rapid depletion of groundwater. The required infrastructure is still being set up. Meanwhile, Mohali will use this share,” the official said, adding that 1 MGD water will be allocated to Morinda.
Chandigarh already receives additional share of 35 MGD water from the two new phases set up at a cost of ₹200 crore.
The 40-km pipeline from these phases for additional supply to Mohali has been set up by the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) at a cost of ₹60 crore.
