Chandigarh is losing a significant portion of its daily water supply due to leaks in aging infrastructure. Around 10 to 15 million gallons per day (MGD) of raw water — nearly one-third of what is sent — never reaches its destination because of leakage in two old concrete pipelines from the Kajauli waterworks.
The data, received from the civic body, shows that of the 35 MGD of raw water sent through these two pipelines, a substantial amount is lost before it arrives at the Sector 39 waterworks. This means the city is paying for water it never actually receives.
Rs 227 Crore Pipeline Replacement Plan Halted
The situation is made worse by the fact that a plan to fix this problem has recently stalled. The General House of the Municipal Corporation (MC) had declared an agenda item of Rs 227 crore for replacing the two pipelines as null and void. This decision came following a controversy surrounding the project.
This leaves the city in a difficult position. The old concrete pipelines continue to leak, and the formal process to replace them has been halted, leaving the water loss problem unresolved for now.
Water Supply System Under Strain
The impact of this loss extends beyond just the city limits. Chandigarh's canal-based water supply system does not only serve city residents. It also supplies raw water to Mohali, Panchkula, and Chandimandir according to fixed shares. When water is lost to leaks, it puts additional strain on the entire system that multiple cities depend on.
The city receives water from Kajauli through a network of six pipelines, each with a capacity of 20 MGD. Four of these are mild steel (MS) pipelines, which are generally more durable. The problem specifically lies with the two older concrete pipelines that are now leaking and wasting millions of gallons every day.
Our Take: Delaying Repairs Costs the City More
To put it plainly, this is a case where delaying maintenance is costing the city dearly. Losing 10 to 15 MGD of water daily is not a small issue — it is a massive inefficiency in a system that serves multiple growing cities.
In our view, the decision to declare the Rs 227 crore replacement plan null and void, while perhaps driven by valid concerns over controversy, leaves a critical problem without a solution. Every day the decision is delayed, the city continues to lose millions of gallons of treated water. The focus now should be on finding a clear, transparent path forward to replace these aging pipelines, because the cost of inaction is only going to rise.
