Badal seeks technical support from WB for quality drinking water in Amritsar and Ludhiana

 By Punjabnewswire4u

CHANDIGARH, MAY 23

            In a bid to ensure quality drinking water supply in urban areas, the Punjab government today envisaged World Bank’s technical support and guidance for the execution of its ambitious program to provide surface based 24x7 safe potable water to 28.13 lakh inhabitants in the cities of Ludhiana and Amritsar.

            Raising this issue with the visiting WB team led by its Operation Advisor, Country Management Unit India Mr. Michael Haney, the Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal impressed upon him to help the state in ensuring quality drinking water not only in the rural areas but all the habitations of the state through WB’s vast experience and expertise during marathon discussions in a meeting here at Punjab Bhawan this afternoon.   Mr. Michael was accompanied by Senior Water & Sanitation Specialist WB and Task Team leader of the WB aided Punjab Rural Water Supply & Sanitation Project Mr. Srinivasa Rao Podipireddy.

Mr. Michael told the Chief Minister that WB rendered non-lending technical assistance to the government of India, state governments and public sector undertakings to pursue their development projects in various sectors such as health, education, infrastructure, irrigation, transport and social protection etc. Mr. Michael urged the Chief Minister to send a comprehensive proposal seeking non-lending technical assistance from WB to the Department of Economic Affairs Ministry of Finance, GoI for urban supply water project in Ludhiana and Amritsar.

The Chief Minister asked the WB team to replicate the
surface based water supply scheme in other municipal corporation cities of Jalandhar, Patiala, Bathinda, Moga, Pathankot, Mohali and Phagwara to ensure uninterrupted supply of safe drinking water later on.  Mr. Badal reiterated surface source based water supply had become all the more important and significant in view of poor quality of ground water coupled with its depleting level.   He cited an example of Ludhiana where the water table had gone down 450 to 500 feet alarmingly.  Mr. Badal also envisaged technical support from WB for the rejuvenation of canal network as the canals were running presently to 25 to 30% below their normal capacity.

            Mr. Michael informed the Chief Minister that he would soon depute their technical team to visit Punjab to study the issues in urban drinking water supply in unison with the senior officers of the Local Government, Water Supply & Sanitation and Irrigation departments.  Mr. Michael appreciated the efforts of state government especially at the behest of Chief Minister who was taking personal interest in ensuring timely implementation of public health schemes in rural and urban sectors with the assistance of WB and assured of all support and cooperation on behalf of WB in state’s development mission in future
too.

                   Taking part in the deliberations, the Principal Secretary
Water Supply & Sanitation Mr. Suresh Kumar said that the WB had
already initiated Rs.200 crore project to provide sewerage system in
100 villages on pilot basis.  He said that the state government had
posed another project to the WB of Rs.1200-1500 crore for laying sewer
in 1000 villages, which was pending with GoI for its nod.  He pointed
out the major thrust of the WB-II stage project would be on the
village sanitation as the clean and safe drinking water supply was the
focus of its stage-I project.

            Prominent amongst others who attended the meeting included Local Govt. Minister Bhagat Chunni Lal, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Mr. Som Parkash, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Mr.SK Sandhu, Mayor Amritsar Mr. Bakshi Ram Arora, Mayor Ludhiana Mr. Harcharan Singh Gohalwaria, Advisor on Local Govt. Maj. Gen. (Retd.) VK Bhatt, Secretary Local Government Mr. Ashok Kumar Gupta, Commissioner Municipal Corporation Ludhiana Mr. Rakesh Verma and Program Director WB Project Punjab Mr. DS Cheema.