Chandigarh
The Chandigarh municipal corporation will now supply water three times a day, with MP Kirron Kher inaugurating the afternoon supply from the Sector 39 waterworks here on Sunday.
It is after seven years that the afternoon supply will resume in the city — between 12pm and 2pm. In the morning, water will be supplied between 4am and 9am, and in the evening, between 6pm and 9pm.
“The afternoon supply has been made possible after augmenting water supply with the commissioning of Phases 5 and 6 of the Kajauli waterworks,” said mayor Rajesh Kalia, who was present at the inauguration along with area councillor Gurbax Rawat, MC chief engineer Shailender Singh and other officials.
The civic body had increased water supply by one hour in the morning and evening after UT administrator VP Singh Badnore inaugurated the ₹200-crore Phases 5 and 6 of Kajauli waterworks on September 28 last year, making additional 29 MGD (million gallons daily) water available to the city and neighbouring areas.
However, councillors were of the view that the city did not benefit from the increase in morning and evening supply timings — 4am to 10am and 5pm to 9pm.
During the House meeting in October, they said morning supply was extended till 10am when most people had already left for work. In the evening too, extending hours didn’t serve much purpose, as most people weren’t back from work by 5pm. They said it was better to start afternoon supply, so that homemakers could make best use of it during the day.
MC commissioner KK Yadav had then asked the public health department to technically examine whether water could be supplied in the afternoon in place of additional timings in the morning and evening.
The mayor had made the announcement about afternoon supply after the MC General House approved a twofold hike in water tariff during its meeting last week. It was seen as a measure to placate residents burdened with the steep hike.
Earlier, it was in June 2012 that the afternoon supply was discontinued in the city, as it was costing a lot to keep the motors running throughout the day and the city didn’t have sufficient storage capacity.
At the time, the order was passed for just a month, citing the need to improve water pressure in mornings and evenings amid an increase in demand during summers. However, the afternoon supply didn’t resume after that.
