No water during Advantage Assam 2.0 as city faces 12-day supply halt
16 years after the mega water supply scheme for Guwahati was sanctioned, the Assam govt appears to be grappling to put the water supply scheme on track.
Jal Board's water supply in vast areas of the city was disrupted thrice due to damage and faults in the newly installed pipelines.
Guwahati, Feb 13: In the first 10 days of February, Jal Board's water supply in vast areas of the city was disrupted thrice due to damage and faults in the newly installed pipelines. And to make matters worse, there will be no water supply for 12 more days this month – albeit in three phases – which began on Wednesday due to a robotic survey to be conducted to detect flaws in the pipelines.
There will be no water supply even during the two days of the Advantage Assam 2.0 summit, when the government intends to showcase the state's growth story and lay the red carpet for potential investors.
Sixteen years after the mega water supply scheme for Guwahati was sanctioned, the Assam government appears to be grappling to put the water supply scheme on track. Senior officials of the Guwahati Jal Board (GJB) informed that they are under "tremendous pressure" from the state government to conduct the robotic survey after two repeated incidents of water pipe burst in the Kharghuli area.
Locals of Kharghuli have been demanding immediate rectification of the flaws in the main pipeline that carries water from the Kharghuli plant to the Ramsa Hill reservoir." The survey would require around 15 days' time.
But considering the inconvenience of the people, we have decided to conduct the survey in three phases. We don't have any other option in hand. The survey is essential to avert any further accident, and the dry season is suitable to conduct the same," a senior official of the GJB told The Assam Tribune.
On Wednesday, water released from the pipeline of GJB before the commencement of the robotic survey inundated the roads in the Chandmari area, causing inconvenience to the commuters.
Satyabrata Sarma, a retired water supply engineer, feels the frequent leakage and bursting of pipes could be due to wrong design, use of substandard material, compromise with proper thickness and lack of proper supervision of workmanship.
"I strongly believe the design itself is flawed. In the distribution portion, the main culprit was the contractor. Due to the laxity of the PMC (Project Management Consultant), the contractor laid pipes at their whims and fancies and succeeded in getting payment without hydraulic testing and without submitting working drawings, which was necessary to get payment. An enquiry by an independent agency may unearth the whole nexus between the contractor and other officials. This is a big issue. Nobody knows in which portion the hydro testing was done and in which portion the pipe was not laid. Non-submission of working drawings was a major factor of leakages and delay in completion of the work," Sarma, who has also filed a PIL in the Gauhati High Court in connection with the project, said.
He feels that local engineers were totally ignored and all decisions were taken by non-technical persons who are fully dependent on contractors for design, construction, supervision and bill preparation.
Under the JICA-assisted South Central Guwahati section, 28,498 households have been provided with connections till December, even though the potential of the scheme is around 110,000. The frequent disruptions have forced people to buy water from private suppliers who are also taking advantage of the situation and raising the rates.
By
Staff Reporter