GUWAHATI: The Zoo Road water supply scheme under Guwahati Jal Board is said to be on death bed and sources cited negligence on part of the Jal Board as the prime reason for its dysfunction.
Out of the total 22,000 water supply connections in Assam, 9000 connections are being provided by Zoo Road Water Supply scheme. The Zoo Road Water Supply Scheme (ZRWSS) had been integrated with Guwahati Jal Board in 2015. In the same year, about 50 per cent of the total revenue generated by the Assam Urban Water Supply and Sewerage Board (AUWSSB) was from the ZRWSS.
There are around 108 permanent employees and 28 non-permanent staff in AUWSSB. Sources said that for about 4 months now, employees have been deprived of their salaries. The ZRWSS, which generated around rupees 50 lakh earlier, has been failing to generate even rupees 30 lakh per month now.
Sources further informed G Plus that ZRWSS has not been maintained properly for the past 3 years.
Scarcity of Potable water
Guwahati has a population of around 12 lakh people needing 200 MLD (millions of litre per day) of water. At present, government agencies are able to cater to around 25 per cent of the total demand for water in the city (50.25 MLD). This water caters to the need of only three lakh consumers in the city.
Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) has three water supply treatment plants, one each at Panbazar, Satpukhuri and Kamakhya. However, against its capacity of supplying 45 MLD of water, the water treatment plant at Panbazar supplies only 22.50 MLD. The condition of the plant at Satpukhuri is no better. It supplies only 15.75 MLD against the capacity of 22.50 MLD. The plant located at Kamakhya supplies only 3 MLD against the capacity of 4.50 MLD.
Apart from these three water treatment plants, GMC has eight functioning deep tube wells that together supply 1.50 MLD against their total capacity of 2 MLD. The total supply capacity of GMC plants, including deep tube wells, is 74 MLD. However, they are currently supplying just 42.75 MLD.
Apart from the GMC, the GMDW & SB (Guwahati Metropolitan Drinking Water & Sewerage Board) is also supplying 7.50 MLD water against its capacity of 12 MLD.
The Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) also runs four water supply projects that supply water to their full capacity of over 23 MLD. However, the water being supplied by the PHED is not going to the general public as the department is busy catering to the water demands of government offices, Gauhati University (GU), Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Assam Agriculture University (AAU), Assam Engineering College (AEC), National Games Village, State Zoo-cum-Botanical Garden, Administrative Staff College, Janata Bhawan etc.
One of the reasons behind the below par supply of water by the three GMC plants is that their old machines have to be repaired frequently. While the Satpukhuri plant was set up in 1930, the one at Panbazar was set up in 1963 and the plant at Kamakhya was set up in 1992. The eight old deep tube wells also go out of order frequently.
Of late, Dispur has released Rs 9 crore for the repair of the three GMC water supply plants. Renovation work has started at the plant at Kamakhya.
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In order to provide affordable, reliable, safe and continuous (24×7) supply of potable water to the Guwahati Metropolitan Area, the Government of Assam had taken up four major water supply projects with funding from Government of India (JNNURM) for the South West region, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for the North and South Central regions and ADB for the South East region.
Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) is implementing these projects, but nobody, including GMDA, knows when these projects will be completed. The Guwahati Jal Board will be responsible for operation and maintenance of these facilities upon their completion.
