Jalandhar Surface Water Supply System

Country: India
City: Jalandhar

Key Stakeholders and PartnersMunicipal Corporation Jalandhar; Local Government Department, Government of Punjab

Project Preparation Study PeriodFebruary 2018 – November 2018

CDIA SupportUS$ 752,482

Expected Downstream Financing$289 million (Asian Development Bank)

Infrastructure sectorsWater Supply

CDIA priority impact areasClimate Change Mitigation and Adaptation; Environmental Improvement; Good Governance; Poverty Reduction

Key City Development Issues

Water supply in Jalandhar is 100 per cent dependent on groundwater abstraction through a combination of municipal and private tube wells. The groundwater table is currently at a depth of 40 meters and is being lowered at a rate of approximately one meter per year. The Central Groundwater Board of India has declared the Jalandhar area a “dark zone” which means that the groundwater aquifer is already 85 per cent depleted and that continued abstraction is only permitted with a special license. It is clear that current abstraction volumes are far exceeding replenishment and that the situation will only get worse as the city grows and develops. Under these circumstances the only option for the city is to switch to surface water.

Details of Cooperation

CDIA provided support to Municipal Corporation Jalandhar in the preparation of the following: (i) an urban resilience strategy; (ii) feasibility/preliminary engineering design of the water intake, pre-treatment facilities, raw water transmission main, water treatment plant, clear water transmission main, terminal reservoir, intra-city bulk water transfer mains and the associated ground level service reservoirs; and (iii) a road map for capacity building and institutional development of the Municipal Corporation Jalandhar divided into short, medium and long-term components.

Expected Development Outcomes

The project will benefit the entire population of Jalandhar as it will secure the future water supply to this economically important city in Punjab. Furthermore, the project is essential to avert an environmental disaster which is inevitable if the current long-term over-abstraction of groundwater continues. The project will significantly improve the city’s urban resilience.