The dream of having 24X7 piped water supply in the city is finally being realised as Phase 1 of the World Bank-funded Comprehensive Water Project is nearing completion.
The project envisages 135 million litres per day (MLD) with an assured supply of 135 litres per capita per day (LPCD) to each household in the city and the 11 merged villages and has been designed to meet the drinking water requirements of the city till the year 2040.
“We are providing round-the-clock water supply to the city from January 2107. For now, we are not fixing water meters and residents have to pay water consumption charges. We are also encouraging residents to apply for municipal water connections,’’ Municipal Commissioner S. Nagalakshmi told The Hindu on Wednesday. There are 1.50 lakh households in the GMC with tap connection and the GMC hopes to increase tap connections by holding a special drive in November.
Filtration plants
The major source of drinking water is the Krishna river from where water is pumped to the filtration plant at Takkellapadu. In addition to the two 45 MLD filtration plants, the GMC has built another 45 MLD plant. The 27 MLD filtration plant at Sangam Jagarlamudi is also being augmented.
The new 45 MLD filtration plant would be opened in December marking the completion of 150 years of Guntur Muncipality.
As part of the project, 18 new reservoirs were being built, of which 16 had been completed.
The comprehensive project was conceived in 2007, but got administrative sanction only in 2010.
Hyderabad-based Mega Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd. has been awarded the contract to execute the works.
“We have completed laying of internal pipelines and works are yet to be completed in few places like railway crossings, national highway junctions,’’ said Ms. Nagalakshmi.
