Continuous drinking water supply project facing hurdles

Hubballi: The ambitious continuous drinking water supply project for the twin cities of Hubballi-Dharwad is facing hurdles. The project aims to provide 24/7 drinking water supply across 46 wards in the city. Funded by the World Bank, the state government, and the Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation, the project commenced in 2020 with a total budget of Rs 931 crores, with an expected completion date in 2025. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the project was delayed by a year at the outset, and only 35% of the work has been completed to date.

This raises concerns about the possibility of meeting the scheduled deadline. The contract for the work has been awarded to L&T company, and the implementation is being overseen by the Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC), while the Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation (KUIDFC) has been designated as the nodal agency for the project. Currently, installation of pipe-lines, construction of overhead tanks, and ground tank facilities are in progress.

Dr. Eeshwar Ullagaddi, the city corporation Commissioner of Hubballi-Dharwad, told that “The continuous drinking water project has been entrusted to L&T. According to the agreement, the work was supposed to be completed by 2025. However, the project is currently progressing in five phases. The first phase includes a raw water treatment main line of 29 km, which connects to the Aminabhavi DLTBC Center and subsequently to Sidlutibi, ensuring pure drinking water supply. A total of 75 km is being laid for the overhead tanks to receive water, with 54 tanks already in place and an additional 24 tanks being constructed by L&T.”As for the distribution line work, Dr. Ullagaddi elaborated, “Following the initial phas-es, distribution line work for 82 wards will also commence.

Construction is ongoing from the raw water line to the completion phase. While 29 km of pipeline work is complete, another 200 meters is pending. The raw water line extends from Malaprab-ha Dam to Aminabhavi. There was a challenge between Aminabhavi and Rayapur, where 8.5 km of work has been completed out of 17 km, with the remainder being ne-gotiated with farmers. Apart from 2 overhead tanks, 70-80% of work has been com-pleted for the remaining 22 tanks.”Highlighting a major challenge, he added, “The distribution network, which requires 1,638 km of pipeline, has seen only 300 km installed previously.

Due to the presence of substandard pipes, orders have been issued to remove them and replace them with new pipelines as per the guidelines. Additionally, a new 300 km pipeline is be-ing laid.

Currently, work is underway across 15 of the 62 zones. Due to delays, L&T has verbally requested an additional year, but no official letter has been received.

The deadline for project completion remains 2025, and decisions will need to be based on the pace of work undertaken by the company.”

Thirteen years ago, a pilot project for 24x7 drinking water supply was implemented in 8 wards of the twin cities (now expanded to 11 wards), providing water to 16,786 households. Wards were selected for the project, including those with residents from all socio-economic backgrounds—poor, middle-class, slum dwellers, and wealthy in-dividuals. Following the success of the pilot project, a plan is in place to extend the project to the remaining wards.