IEP Chandigarh
Achieving the final and much awaited milestone of the ambitious 24×7 pan city water supply project, the Municipal Corporation Chandigarh on Friday signed the historic project agreement with the French Financial institution, Agence Française de Développement (AFD) with the support of the European Union at Punjab Raj Bhawan, Chandigarh. This agreement was signed by Anindita Mitra, Municipal Commissioner, Chandigarh and Bruno Bosle, Country Director for India of the Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD), in the presence of Banwarilal Purohit, Administrator Chandigarh and Governor, Punjab, HE Ugo Astuto, Ambassador of the European Union in India Sarbjit Kaur, Mayor, Chandigarh, and other dignitaries.
Adressing the gathering, the Governor said that though the 24×7 Water Supply System has been implemented in various cities in India, Chandigarh’s pan city project with Smart Water Metering for all the 1.77 lacs connections, is the first of its kind. Chandigarh’s deep rooted relationship with France is well known as the entire city was planned by the famous French architect, Le Corbusier. It was in 2016, that the then Ambassador of France and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Chandigarh and in the iconic rock garden of Chandigarh, it was decided that France shall support crucial infrastructure projects in Chandigarh.
Purohit appreciated the vision and commitment of the European partners for the project. AFD has accompanied the design of the programme and is funding the major part of the investment through a 412 crores soft loan. The European Union on the other hand is providing a 98 Crores grant through AFD to accompany the implementation of the investment.
He said that the project was the need of the hour as the entire water supply system of Chandigarh was an ageing one. Also, due to slow and steady rise in the population, criss-cross pipelines have come up across the city making it near impossible to isolate and detect leakages leading to low pressure on upper floors of the buildings. Typically, intermittent water supply results in higher per capita consumption of water due to storage. Not just that, it leads to contamination as well. The city witnesses much higher water consumption in the range of 227 lpcd as compared to the National norms of 150 lpcd majorly on account of Non Revenue Water in the range of 30-35 % leading to huge operation and maintenance cost.
One of the major components of this project, funded by the EU contribution is the technical assistance to the Municipal Corporation, which shall assist and provide operational tools to help switch from intermittent water supply to a continuous 24×7 water supply system, and provide dedicated information, education, and change-management support to end-users. The EU grant shall also support the Municipal Corporation with operational tools, and pro-poor investments related to the rehabilitation of stand-posts in the slum areas by converting them to multi-tap stand posts, connection of the used water with the Sewerage System, thereby, creating hygienic conditions and reducing the time for women to collect water.
He congratulated the Mayor and councillors, the Commissioner and her team of officers for taking up these people centric steps in public interest and wished them all success in future endeavors. The Governor asked the concerned officers of Chandigarh Administration and Municipal Corporation Chandigarh to ensure that the project is implemented in the stipulated time frame.
The Ambassador of European Union, H.E. Ugo Astuto, said that “The programme being launched today is a good example of the team Europe approach underpinning the EU Global Gateway strategy. The European Union and Agence Française de Developpement are pooling their resources for an investment in urban infrastructure with the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh with the objective of improving sustainability and bringing positive change in the life of the citizens of Chandigarh”.
Bruno Bosle, the Country Director of AFD India while addressing the audience, said that, “the Chandigarh Pan-City 24X7 Water Supply Project is emblematic of the Indo-French Cooperation in India and is a flagship project for the AFD. The project is directly addressing the priorities of the Indian Govt. which aims to move towards universal coverage, 24X7 water supply, and Drink from tap initiative while being operationally efficient, and reduction of carbon footprints of the water utility. He also thanked European Union who agreed to partner with AFD, and provided one of the largest grant of 11.38MEUR in addition to the AFD contribution of 48MEUR towards this project. The contribution of EU grant is a key to the success of the project through the technical assistance, change management, operational tools, and rehabilitation work in low-income settlements.
