CHIEF SECRETARY REVIEWS THE DRINKING WATER SUPPLY SITUATION FROM KAJAULI WATER WORKS

Chandigarh, July 10, 2023:

Punjab Chief Secretary Anurag Verma on Monday chaired a meeting of the officers of Punjab government, the representatives of the Army and NDRF and Chandigarh administration to take stock of the situation arisen due to damaged drinking water pipes at Kajauli Water Works in wake of continuous rains.

The Chief Secretary asked the officers to personally visit the site and submit a detailed report to him. It was informed in the meeting that drinking water is provided daily to Tricity through the Kajauli water works from Bhakra main line. Out of the five pipes with a total capacity of 120 million gallons per day, one belonging to the Punjab Water Supply Department was damaged while other belonging to the Chandigarh administration was completely damaged. Both the pipes have a capacity of 20 million gallons each per day.

Mr. Anurag Verma said that even though one of the pipelines in Chandigarh has been completely damaged, keeping in mind the public interest, adequate water should be given to Chandigarh from the available water so that the people do not face any problems. He said that providing adequate drinking water to Chandigarh, Mohali and Chandimandir is the top priority of the government.

The Chief Secretary asked the Commissioner of Municipal Corporation Chandigarh that as long as the water supply is low, MC Chandigarh should ensure water supply to Chandi mandir from share of Chandigarh water so that the officers and soldiers of the Army located at the headquarters of the Western Command of the Indian Army have no problem. Along with this, the repair work of the completely damaged water pipe should be done on a war footing.

The Chief Secretary asked the Principal Secretary Water Resources to visit the Kajauli Water Works site along with the Army and NDRF teams and instructed them to install sandbags for water management and to reduce the water level so that there is no problem in the repair work of the damaged pipes. He asked the Rupnagar district administration to do this work on a priority basis.

Prominent among others who were present in the meeting included  Principal Secretary Housing and Urban Development AK Sinha, Principal Secretary Water Supply and Sanitation Jaspreet Talwar, Principal Secretary Water Resources Krishan Kumar, Director Water Supply and Sanitation Mohammad Ishfaq and representatives of the Western Command Adviser Civil Military Affairs Colonel JS Sandhu. The meeting was attended by Municipal Corporation Chandigarh Commissioner Anindita Mitra, Deputy Commissioner Rupnagar Preeti Yadav and NDRF Commandant Santosh Kumar through video conferencing.