The Kaushalya Dam being constructed on Ghaggar river in Panchkula at a cost of Rs 217 crore will soon be made functional.

Work on the project started in 2008 and it was to become operational by August 2010. The delay in construction has led to escalation of cost in project. We are hopeful of making the dam functional soon, said an officer at the Irrigation Department. The dam will provide drinking water to Panchkula and also check flash floods. The dam has a catchment area of about 70 square kilometres and it will provide water to the township. It will also add to the supply of drinking water in the region, he said. The Haryana government is also pursuing the construction of up-stream storages namely Renuka, Kishau and Lakhwar Vyasi dams on Yamuna river. Unless these storages are constructed, assured water supply to Haryana from Yamuna could not be ascertained, a spokesman of Irrigation Department said. He said that the state government had taken up the issue of construction of these dams with the Central government and it has already declared all of them national projects, in which 90 per cent cost of water component of the project will be borne by the Central government and the rest by partner states.

PANCHKULA: Like in previous years, Panchkula residents are this year on course to putting up with water shortage. Two ambitious projects of Haryana government geared towards ending water crisis in Panchkula city by bringing water from Kaushalya Dam in Pinjore and Kajauli water works, will not be completed this year. The authorities are claiming Kaushalya Dam project will be operational from 2012 whereas Panchkula's water share from Kajauli water works will reach it by 2013. Kaushalya Dam project, which is already running behind schedule by a year, may be completed by the beginning of 2012. The life of the dam is expected to be 100 years. It will provide 18.40 cusecs raw drinking water to Panchkula and its adjoining areas. From Rs 51 crore in March 2008 when the project was commissioned, cost estimates of the dam have touched Rs 200 crore. Changes in the original plan have pushed up the project cost. The total cost of the project was estimated to be Rs 51.37 crore and the area was around 222 acre when the project was planned. Later, the area was increased to 257 acre and the estimated cost of the project rose to Rs 118 crore. A top official of Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) said they had started the process of bringing water from the dam to Panchkula. To lay the 10-km-long pipeline, HUDA has already approved a budget of Rs 23 crore. Similarly, for the water treatment plant in Sector 1, a budget of Rs 25 crore has been approved.

At present, 170 tubewells are the only source of water supply in Panchkula city. The current water requirement of the city is 24 million gallons a day (MGD) and Panchkula is receiving 19.03 MGD from tubewells. HUDA officials have estimated that to meet Panchkula residents' water demand, the city needs 3.24 MGD from Kajauli water works, Chandigarh and 5.40 MGD from Kaushalya Dam, which is being constructed in Pinjore and will be completed soon. As for Kajauli water works, HUDA officials said Panchkula has a 3 MGD (million gallons a day) share in Kajauli water works. If pipeline from Chandigarh to Panchkula is laid at the earliest, major water problems stand to be sorted out. HUDA administrator Rajender Kataria said they are diong their best to bring water supply from these two points to Panchkula at the earliest. Funds have been approved and work will be initiated soon, he added.