Punjab News Water wars: Punjab no to Chandigarh

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- dEsPeraTe cRaNky -
CHANDIGARH:

There is no immediate solution in sight to water woes in Chandigarh as Punjab has voiced its reservations about sharing more water with city, arguing it gets more than what it is entitled to.

At a meeting of UT adviser Pradip Mehra with Punjab chief secretary SC Aggarwal and Haryana chief secretary Urvashi Gulati on Tuesday, a decision to provide more water to Chandigarh couldn't be taken.
Sources said Punjab officials pointed out that water availability in Chandigarh was currently 285 litre per capita per day (LPCD), much higher than national norm of 150 LPCD. Chandigarh was asked to realistically assess its water needs and manage its resources judiciously.

"Chandigarh's growth will not be as rapid in future as that of Mohali and Panchkula," Punjab officials said.
UT administration had prepared a proposal for getting an additional 40 million gallons per day (MGD) water from phases V and VI of Kajauli water supply scheme. Of this, 5 MGD will flow to Mohali, 3 MGD will be provided to Panchkula and 3 MGD will be kept aside for Chandimandir Cantt.

UT agreed to analyse its water requirement in view of its population growth.

Haryana said Panchkula was yet to receive promised share of water from first four pipelines from Kajauli.
The meeting followed an interim high court order on April 9 asking the stakeholders to resolve the issue.
It was highlighted that with rapid urbanization of Chandigarh Urban Complex including Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula, requirements had shot up, which had led to water shortage.
 
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