Punjab CM launches water supply, sewerage schemes worth Rs 197 crore

Amritsar, March 4 (IANS) Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday laid the foundation stones of three surface water supply schemes, in addition to a domestic sewage treatment plant, worth Rs 197.69 crore, for the rural areas of Amritsar district.

Terming the state's water situation as precarious, the Chief Minister underlined the responsibility of the state to save water for the coming generations.

"When the Satluj Yamuna Link Canal problem started, Punjab had 17 MAF (million acre feet) water, which has depleted to 13 MAF in 30 years," he said.

The state currently has 14 lakh tubewells against 50,000 which was the required estimate after the construction of the Bhakra canal, he said.

The Chief Minister said the government would take the help of all financial organisations to ensure that canal or river water is supplied to the people for drinking purposes.

Launching canal-based surface water supply projects to the tune of Rs 154.15 crore, the Chief Minister said the schemes would help mitigate the problem of groundwater for 1.5 lakh people spread over 112 villages in four blocks in the region.

This state-of-the-art project would be executed with financial assistance from the World Bank on a design, build operate and transfer (DBOT) basis, for which the tenders have already been floated.

The Chief Minister also laid the foundation stone of an arsenic removal project for 102 villages of Amritsar district, involving a cost of Rs 21.97 crore, which was arranged from the NITI Aayog after the demonstration of a pilot project undertaken by the State government in three villages based on nano-material technology developed by IIT Chennai.