Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Monday said the Centre has approved a prestigious project funded by the World Bank for augmentation of water supply scheme for Shimla town.The project amounting to Rs643.05 crore will address water requirements not only of Shimla town comprising of Shimla Municipal Corporation area but also Special Planning Area (SPA) and suburban areas in the vicinity of the town.
The project was approved by the Union Finance Ministry during a meeting held in New Delhi, which was attended by Additional Chief Secretary , Irrigation & Public Health P.C Dhiman along-with other senior officers of the Himachal Government.Virbhadra Singh said additional water supply from Kol Dam would be made available for Shimla under this project. It would address the basic amenity requirements for the rapidly developing and thickly populated Shimla town. Water supply distribution system would be improved by eliminating water leakages and wastage.
The Chief Minister said sanitary conditions in the town would be substantially improved by providing sewerage facility to all households, construction of new sewerage treatment plants, improvement of existing treatment plants and rejuvenation of sewerage lines.He said the project would have three components including augmentation of water supply of Shimla town by lifting water from Kol Dam reservoir, rehabilitation of water supply distribution system and rejuvenation of sewerage network in the town.
“The state government had made serious efforts to get this project approved from the union government for World Bank funding. The state would get Rs514 crore from the World Bank and Rs129 crore would be provided by the State Government as counterpart funding over a project period of three years,” he added.
Urban Development Minister Sudhir Sharma said this project would ensure uninterrupted water supply to Shimla town, which besides being state capital was also a major tourist destination.
He said this project would also help in enhancing the storage capacity and technological upgrading sewerage treatment plants.
