Heads up! 10-day water cut to hit 5 zones of Ahmedabad from today

AHMEDABAD: Just as summer is peaking, Ahmedabad is set to face a 10-day water squeeze, with supply expected to dip in eastern and western areas of the city. From Thursday, residents across five zones — West, Central, North, East and South — will see a 10% to 15% cut in morning and evening water supply. The disruption follows repair work by Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited (SSNL) on the damaged RCC lining of the main Narmada canal, which feeds raw water to the Kotarpur Water Treatment Plant.

Officials said the plant, which normally processes about 1,100MLD of water and supplies nearly 170 distribution stations, will receive less raw water during this period. The shortfall is estimated at 50 to 60 MLD per day.

Areas likely to be affected include Paldi, Chandkheda, Sabarmati, Vadaj, Navrangpura, Naranpura, Vasna and Motera in the western parts, along with large parts of the eastern side covering North, Central, East and South zones.

Jagdish Asari, deputy city engineer in the AMC's water operations department, said water levels have already been adjusted to facilitate repairs and this will continue for the next 10 days. "To manage the shortfall, the civic body will run raw water pumps at full capacity instead of relying on gravity flow and supplement the supply through borewells at distribution stations,," Asari added.

Ahmedabad's total daily water supply stands at about 1,700MLD across seven zones, sourced from three treatment plants. Of this, Kotarpur alone accounts for 1,100MLD, making it the most critical node in the system. Any disruption to its raw water intake has a cascading effect across the city.

With temperatures already high, officials said residents may experience lower pressure or shorter supply duration during morning and evening cycles. Authorities have urged citizens to use water judiciously until normal supply resumes after the canal repairs are completed.