You will get 170 litre of water/day in Ahmedabad from ’12

The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) aims to provide water to the citizens of the city as per the rules laid down by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Presently, the civic body provides per capita 140 litre of water per day within the city limits. It plans to take this to 160-170 litre per day by next year.

As per WHO standards, per capita 140 litre of water is needed in urban areas, said Tarun Lad, special city engineer of AMC's water project department. He added that around five years ago, the civic body used to provide per capita 130 litre of water per day to the citizens, which has now increased to 140 per day.

Ahmedabad's water consumption is around 950 million litres per day (MLD). The city largely depends on only one source for water - Narmada project. The Narmada Canal satisfies more than 85% of the city's water needs. 

The city has 132 water distribution stations to provide water supply to its residents. AMC is planning to set up a dozen more water distribution stations in areas that were merged with the city around three and a half years ago in both the eastern and western parts.

The civic body has already covered around 85% of the city under water distribution system and plans to achieve 100% during the current year.  The work for laying the branches of main trunk line alongside the SP Ring Road to provide water to Maktampura, Mahmudpura and others is in process, while the work for Chainpur-Charodi has already begun. "It will take at least one year to cover the entire city under water distribution," said Jatin Patel, chairman of AMC's water supply and sewerage management committee.

The civic body had expected to spend around Rs52.15 crore on water projects in the financial year 2010-11, which has been increased to Rs90.15 crore in the budget for the financial year 2011-12.

Talking about the water pressure problems in the city, Patel said that it was due to some technical reason. "Earlier, water from Narmada Canal was stored in underground sumps using gravitational force. "However, now we are building new kind of infrastructure to solve the pressure problem," added Patel.

During the budget session, the BJP had announced provision of 24-hour water supply and installing water meters. The civic body will launch the pilot projects in Chharodi and Jodhpur village. There will be no charge till per capita 140 L water per day, Mayor Asit Vora had announced earlier.

"Water meter will help us to minimise water wastage through audit," said Lad. The survey for the project is going on and the infrastructure is being set up.