WB-aided water supply scheme for 3 cities in Sept

The ambitious World Bank-aided 24x7 water supply scheme launched by the Karnataka government in Dharwad and Hubli will be commissioned in September this year.

The Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation (KUIDFC) has taken up the project "" Karnataka Urban Water Supply Improvement Programme "" in three cities, Hubli-Dharwad, Belgaum and Gulbarga.

The World Bank has contributed $39.90 million (Rs 181.70 crore) for the $51.53 million project. The share of Karnataka government is $11.63 million (Rs 55.34 crore).

In Dharwad, the priority investment works have been listed and is in progress. Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC) joint commissioner S A Mathad said that the water tariff would be fixed after studying the report of the HDMC in this regard. Eight wards in Hubli-Dharwad have been selected for the project.

Speaking to the media, Mathad said that the project envisaged laying new pipelines to the extent of 30 km in the demo zone in Dharwad. Of these, work has been completed in 16 km. The ductile iron (DI) pipes have been laid to a distance of 8.88 km in Dharwad.

The other works in the project include installing three pumpsets of 400 HP each at Amminabhavi water filter station, providing mild steel pipes with 1,168 mm to a distance of 23,000 metres from Amminabhavi to Nrupatunga Betta in Hubli and fixing water meters. New MI pipes have been laid to a distance of 10 km from Amminabhavi towards Hubli.

The project aims at providing water 24x7 to the residents in the demo zone of three selected cities, relaying of distribution lines, improving the connection to consumers and fixing meters to the taps of all the consumers.

In Belgaum, 10 wards have been selected for the implementation of the project while in Gulbarga 11 wards will be covered. The total investment will be Rs 159.16 crore in the three cities.