A high level delegation comprising of 29 No. members headed by Mr. Elizabeth Kleemeier from World Bank Washington DC USA, Sh. Shamil Sarkar Task Team Leader World Bank India, Dr. Kurian Senior P.O IRC Netherlands, Sh. Abul Kaivm EE, Sh. Muhammad Shamsul Huq Bhuiyan EE, Sh. Mohammad Saifur Rahman EE from Bangladesh along with Senior officers of different States of India such as Sh. Hira Lal Prasad & Sh. Martin Khalkho Chief Engineer from Jharkhand, Sh. Vashudevak G.M Technical Karnatka, Sh. G.D Raturi, Sh. Uttam Kumar G.M & Sh. Satish Chandra Gupta Chief Engineer, R.K Rajwar Unit Coordinator (Engg. ) from Uttrakhand ,Sh. DPS Beniwal Chief Engineer from Haryana, Sh. Taba Teni SE, Sh. T. Gongkap Asstt. Engineer from Arunachal Pradesh, Sh. H. Sunil Singh Addl. CE, Sh. Th. Lokeshwar Singh SE Sh. L Swamikanta Singh Director CCDU, Sh. Laishran Ibomcha Singh SE PHED from Manipur, Smt. V. Tamilarasi Chief Water analyst , Sh. S. Ranthinavelu SE from Tamilnadu, Sh. Arindam Majumder, Sh. Tanay Kumar Das from West Bengal, Sh. Showkot A Zargar, Special Secretar from J & K, Sh. Anil Bhargava CE PHED, Umesh Dhingra Add. CE, Sh. Dinesh Sharma SE from Rajasthan, Sh. K.R Shrikant SE, Sh. Rajesh R Galagali EE from Goa visited 24 x 7 Continuous Metered Water Supply Scheme of village Manhera jattan District Fatehgarh Sahib on 16 Dec, 2011. Sh. R.L Kauldhar, Chief Engineer, Water Supply & Sanitation Department accompanied the delegation to water works Manhera jattan. Prior to this in the month of July 2011 high level delegates from World Bank and Govt of India has visited similar villages of District SAS Nagar i.e. village Singhpura & Sitabgarh from District Ropar village Paprala. The Water Supply to these villages are 24 hours and appreciated the work executed and maintained by GPWSC’s. A public reception was extended to the delegation by the Gram Panchayat Water Supply & Sanitation Committee (GPWSC) of water supply scheme Manhera jattan. Smt. Harjit Kaur Chairman of the committee explained that the village Manhera jattan was non covered (NC) village. The underground water was not fit for drinking and have some fluoride contents in drinking water. So the villagers approach the water supply & sanitation department for World Bank Project & contributed towards the beneficiary share of Rs. 1.35 Lacs towards the water supply scheme which has now successfully completed at a cost of Rs. 24.21 lacs in the month of July, 2008 & all the villagers are getting safe drinking water since then. The GPWSC started the O & M from August 2008 with the help of Department but in the beginning the wastage of drinking water was very much and committee could not control the wastage. In November / December 2011 all the households of village were provided water meter to save wastage of water resulting in 24X7 water supply in the village. This is one out of the eleven villages having 24×7 water supply in Punjab. He also appreciated the efforts made by Sh. Sukhminder Singh Pandher Executive Engineer of Water Supply & Sanitation Department for their co-operation and all help in making this scheme a grand success.
Mr. P.S. Bhatti, Superintending Engineer Department of Water Supply further told that the GPWSC started the O & M with the help of Department but in the beginning the wastage of drinking water was very much and committee could not control the wastage. Due to this the expenditure on electricity bill and other expenses could not be met with the revenue receipt by the Committee. Therefore, Committee discussed this problem with the department and demanded water meter at every connection. The department installed 100mm bulk size water meter at water works & individual water meters of 15mm size at every connection. So that wastage of drinking water can be controlled. Before the installation of water meter, running of motor was 8 to 9 hours a day and consumers get only four hours water supply in a day. Now the running of motor is 6 hours a day and consumers get 24 hours water supply. One third saving in the electricity bill after the installation of water meter as compared to prior to installation of water meter. Now tariff is Rs. 100/- per house hold as monthly minimum charges plus Rs. 3/- per kilo liter. The villagers do not have any necessity for any kind of storage and save their time. Now the wastage of water is below 10%. The health of villagers has improved due to 24 hours drinking water supply and sufficient time is devoted to their agricultural activities. On this account the financial position of the villagers has also improved. It has also improved the health of domestic animals resulting the increase of milk production. After interaction with the village people it has been noticed that after commissioning of this water supply scheme, general health of people has improved to considerable extent. Mr. R.L Kauldhar Chief Engineer further explained that more villages of district Fatehgarh Sahib will also be converted in to 24X7 water supply in two month’s time.
