AGARTALA, June 11 (TIWN): The state government recently started a process of replacing the drinking water supply pipeline system of Agartala city, the first ever initiative since its commissioning in 1965. The project is slated to end in 2016, a highly placed source in the Department of Urban Development said here today.

The source said that the project was initially started with the idea of augmenting the drinking water reserves and treatment system of surface and ground-water to cope up with the rising number of civic residents. The necessity became imminent after the municipal body was extended following upgradation of the Agartala Muncipal Council (AMC) to Agartala Municipal Corporation, the source said.

The current project is being run to replace the pipeline system with a target of fulfilling all drinking water requirements of citizens living inside corporation area till 2030.

A recent exercise found that approximately 5 crore 40 lakh liters of purified drinking water is needed every day for the civic residents. The entire bulk is available to residents of the AMC area though barely 1 crore 35 lakh liters of purified drinking water from the surface water treatment plants based on River Howrah and River Gomati is currently available. Water treatment plants capable of generating 1 crore 35 lakh liters of purified drinking water are under construction in the North Zone of the municipal corporation.

Seven more treatment plants with an installed capacity of generating 4 crore 50 lakh liters of purified drinking water are under construction in the South, East and Central Zone of the civic area, the source said.

The Department for Urban Development (UDD) recently adopted an ambitious target of providing domestic drinking water pipelines to 1,700 households in the north zone of the city.

The Department is reported to considering augmenting the capacity of drinking water reservoirs and treatment plants in the city as well. Seven treatment plants, 22 deep tube wells with pump houses, 14 over-head tanks would be built by the next few years, a separate source in the Urban Development Department said. The source added that two major drinking water reservoirs at Collegetilla and Badrowali would be augmented. Additional underground tanks would be constructed for the reservoir at Bardowali.