Ludhiana MC begins 24×7 water supply project

CHANDIGARH: The Ludhiana Municipal Corporation (LMC) began the first phase of the canal-based 24×7 surface drinking water supply project by floating a request for proposal (RFP) for designing building and operating a 580 million litres per day (MLD) water treatment plant, associated transmission network and overhead service reservoirs (OHSR).

Ravinder Garg, Superintending Engineer, said that the RFP has been the call for proposal has been given by the Punjab Municipal Infrastructure Development Company (PMIDC) and proposals can be submitted in an online manner from October 6 to December 12.

In the first phase of the project, a 580 MLD capacity water treatment plant will be built in Bilga to treat the surface water. Along with it, 165 km supply will be laid beside the canal to supply treated water from the plant to OHSR.

Currently, the estimated cost of first phase of the project stands at Rs 1,693.37 crore and the amount will be spent over a period of 10 years. Out of the total budget, Rs 270.73 crore has been earmarked for maintenance, while Rs 12.4 crore has been set aside for project security.

Additionally, the civic body will set up 139 OHSR at several locations in the city under a project supported by the World Bank Group. The estimated cost of the project stands at around Rs 3,394 crore.

As per the official statement, the city already has around 77 reservoirs, while the rest of them will be built under the LMC project. The first phase of the project is supposed to be completed in three years. The project includes the installation of water metres at all the properties in the city and as far as the billing is concerned, the LMC is planning to set up a water utility company which will be presided over by the chairman. Municipal Commissioner will act as the Managing Director while the councillors will perform the duties of the directors.