A water pumping station on the Brahmaputra. Picture by S.H. Patgiri

Dec. 22: Faced with growing problems over inadequate water, Dispur is planning to bring the water supply in the entire city under a single authority on the lines of Delhi?s Jal Board.

Minister for urban development Hem Prakash Narayan told newspersons here today that chief minister Tarun Gogoi has backed the proposal.

The proposal would be finalised after consultations with the three agencies ? the Guwahati Municipal Corporation, Assam Urban Water Supply and Sewerage Board and public health engineering ? in charge of supplying water in the city.

He said a single body would be required for sensible utilisation of the loan of Rs 250 crore to be released by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) next year.

The ADB has agreed in principle to provide the loan to execute the greater Guwahati water supply project, which envisages supplying 40 million litres of water per day (mld).

Narayan said the single body, comprising experts and technocrats, would be able to study the problem of water scarcity in details and take measures to resolve them.

The total water requirement of the city is 140 mld. While the GMC and the PHE can together supply about 84 mld of water, the urban water supply board has so far been able to provide 10 mld.

The Zoo Road Water Supply Project of the Assam Urban Water Supply and Sewerage Board will become fully operational in January. Narayan said the number of subscribers would be go upto 8,000 from the existing 6,500 once the project is fully operational.

He said there are plans to expand the existing water supply network of the board in the city by identifying new areas.

The GMC?s largest water project at Pan Bazar, which has an installed capacity of providing 40 million litre of water per day, provides 25-30 ml of water per day, thus increasing the shortfall by another 10 to 15 ml.

A scheme of Rs 19 crore has been submitted to the ministry of urban development to upgrade the capacities of Panbazar water treatment plant.

Guwahati currently has four water supply projects ? Panbazar Water Supply Project of 1960, Satpukuhri Water Supply Project of 1985, Kamakhya Water Supply Project of 2000 and Zoo Road Water Supply Scheme of 1988.

In addition to these projects, there are eight deep tubewells and 560 handpumps supplying water to the various localities. Another reason for creating a single water supply body is to streamline the distribution system. ?Cases of water pilferage and waste are increasing,? an official said.