Imphal city faces an acute crisis of drinking water

Panel set up to suggest solutions

IMPHAL: With Imphal reeling under an acute shortage of drinking water as reservoirs and other sources are drying up fast, Chief Minister of Manipur, N. Biren Singh set up a committee on Tuesday during an emergency meeting convened to review the acute crisis of drinking water in the State capital.

The crisis has compounded with the drying up of Leimakhong River and also the drastic fall in the water level of Singda Dam -- the two main sources of potable water for residents. As a result, supply of tap water has been greatly affected especially to the commercial hub of Imphal West district over the past few days.

The PHE (Public Health Engineering) department has also stated that the water-treatment plants at Singda, Kangchup and Kangchup extension failed to generate the optimum amounts of treated water due to the afore-mentioned reasons. It has already notified the public that the supply of drinking water would be "highly" affected in the days to come.

Pointing out that the three water-treatment plants normally supply around 23.6 million litres of drinking water to the commercial hub on a daily basis, PHE Executive Engineer (Maintenance division), Th. Pika Singh stated that of this amount, over 9 million litres of water are supplied through the Singda plants and more than 14 million through the Leimakhong extensions. "With the Leimakhong River almost drying up, we are rationing just over 6 million litres of drinking water through Singda after a gap of three days," added Singh.

"We have inspected all the major sources of the water-treatment plants. The situation is not encouraging. The Leimakhong River, which is feeding the two extension plants, is almost dry. It's the same for Singda Dam as well," added the Executive Engineer. Sources at the Singda Dam reservoir informed that the water level is depleting at an alarming rate. As on date, just 8.96 meters of the total 34 metres are left with water.

The Deputy Director of 'Environment & Climate Change Department', T Brajakumar said that experiencing a shortage of water at this time of year is normal due to a deficit in pre-monsoon rainfall. However, the severity of the crisis has gradually increased over the last few years. Manipur has been experiencing a deficit in pre-monsoon for the past five years. This year too, major catchment areas such as Tamenglong, Churachandpur, Imphal West and East among others saw over 90 per cent pre-monsoon rainfall deficit, he added.

Chief Minister N. Biren Singh on Tuesday convened an emergency meeting to review the prevailing situation. During the meeting, it was decided that a sub-committee, headed by the Administrative Secretary (Water Resources) with PCCF and comprising the Administrative Secretary (PHED), Engineer-in-Chief (Water Resources), Chief Engineer (Water Resources), Chief Engineer (PHED), Director (MAHUD), Executive Engineer (PHED-Maintenance Division-II) and DIG Range I, will conduct a survey of the areas hit by water scarcity and recommend steps for meeting the shortage. (Agencies)

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