WD News: The final project agreement for Chandigarh’s ambitious 24×7 water supply project will be signed between the municipal corporation and French government’s Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD) on December 16, paving the way for the project’s long-awaited execution.
Conceived nearly seven years ago, the project has a financial outlay of Rs 512 crore and is expected to be completed by 2028.
Earlier, on September 14, the Credit Facility Agreement (CFA) for the project was signed between the Union department of economic affairs and the French agency in New Delhi.
AFD has sanctioned Rs 412 crore for the project in the form of loan, which is to be repaid in 15 years. In addition to it, the European Union will also be giving a grant of Rs 100 crore for the project.
The UT administration had signed a Memorandum of Undertaking (MoU) with AFD in 2016, wherein AFD had agreed to support Chandigarh’s water supply, sanitation and waste management, among other sectors. Subsequently, the Rs 412 crore loan was sanctioned on December 16, 2020.
Municipal commissioner Anindita Mitra said, “After the signing of the agreement on December 16, we will be floating the tenders in January for inviting an agency to execute the project. The agency has to complete the project in 5 years.”
The project aims to avoid wastage of water by minimising storage of water by the public through 24×7 continuous high-pressure supply. Other objectives include water resource augmentation through leakage reduction, smart water meters, limited dependence on groundwater and monitoring of energy consumption.
Sensors in the supply system will measure water consumption, water levels and water flow rates on a real-time basis. The smart meters will provide consumers data to help them monitor their usage and reduce costs, and also allow remote monitoring and billing.
Source: Hindustan Times
Image courtesy: Pixabay
