Kota faces acute drinking water woes

KOTA: Once upon a time, Kota, situated on the banks of Chambal boasted of a round-the-clock water supply. But today, the city's inhabitants are facing a water shortage. Expansion of the city, population rise and government negligence are to be blamed.
Supply of contaminated drinking water is another major problem for the city dwellers.
During summer, the paucity of drinking water reaches its peak, especially in the outskirts and the new colonies.For the past few days, residents of these localities have been demonstrating in front of the PHED office. They said that they get drinking water supply only for 2 or 3 hours a day which is insufficient. "We had given more than a dozen memorandum to the water supply officers to increase supply in our area but the government is not doing anything," said Ravi Sanker, a resident of Vigannager.
Those living in the newly-regularized colonies of Chatrapura, Prem Nager, Surya Nager, Balakund, Udya Basti and a few others, are also facing acute drinking water shortage.
To tackle this problem, a plan was sanctioned by the Rajasthan Urban Infrastructure Development Project (RUIDP) with the help of Urban Improvement Trust (UIT) and PHED with the financial assistance of Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Griraj Singh Hada, superintendent engineer, said that, "From our side the work to improve the supply water is complete. Further work will be done by the PHED."
"In 2002, the Rs 78-crore project of our department was meant to provide the water of Chambal to more than two dozen residential colonies in the city. It had planned to construct 19 overhead tanks, 64 filter plants, 10 busting pump house and an intake well at Akelghar water pumping station in the city," said Hada. The constrution of the 19 overhead tanks, most of which are in working condition, have been completed by the RUIDP and handed over to PHED.
Official sources said that the work to change the old distribution pipelines in various parts of city is still on. They claimed that after its completion, the pressure in pipes will be enough to transport the water not just to the outskirts but also to the third-floor houses in Kota.
"Plan to improve the supply in Kota city is drafted keeping in view the increase in population by year 2034," said sources.
A new 377-km pipeline has also been proposed for the city. Om Birla, BJP MLA from Kota (South), blamed the slackness of the government agencies for the increase in water shortage. He said that during the BJP government, approximately more than a hundred pipelines were laid. "It is a serious matter and the government should take some effective steps to tackle the problem, or the administration will face a law and order situation in the future," said Birla.