Citing shortcomings and certain pending works, the Municipal Corporation has once again extended the defects liability period for the 24×7 water supply pilot project at Manimajra by six months.
The defects liability period is a contractually defined timeframe after a project’s completion during which the company is responsible for fixing any defects or faults at its own cost. With the end of the defects liability period, the MC will have to pay nearly Rs 6 crore per annum for the operation and maintenance of the project.
Sources said the period had been extended from May 11 to November 10 or till all the defects were rectified to the satisfaction of the Engineer-in-Charge, whichever earlier. The civic body had earlier extended the defects liability period for the project from November 11, 2025, to May 10, 2026.
In a letter to the company, the MC pointed out shortcomings and its observations.
The MC stated that 24-hour water supply was not achieved in certain zones. Complaints were received from the NAC and Indira Colony areas regarding muddy water supply during the initial few minutes of service.
Zone 2, 3 and 4 were not yet properly isolated or stabilised for 24×7 supply, leading to reduced hours of water supply and at a pressure lower than minimum required at the consumer end. Complaints of low pressure were received from areas of Zone 2 (Pipliwala Town and Mariwala Town), Zone 3 (some areas of Indira Colony near railway line) and Zone 4 (Old Abadi, Govindpura).
The MC stated that the pipeline network to transport tubewell water to underground reservoirs (UGRs) at water works was not properly isolated as approximately 2.5 MGD of water was reaching the UGRs as compared to approximately 4.5 MGD generated from all 29 tubewells of Manimajra that feed the reservoirs.
The DG sets installed at each pump house were of low capacity and unable to ensure water supply in case of power failure. Besides, fire hydrant systems were not installed yet, the smart water metering data portal was not working properly and the mobile application for consumers was not available on app stores, stated the MC.
The project had courted a controversy after the Vigilance Department started a probe following city BJP president Jatinder Pal Malhotra’s letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, alleging corruption in the project. The project was inaugurated by the Union Home Minister in August 2024.
A team of the Director General of Audit (Central Expenditure) also conducted a comprehensive performance audit of the 24×7 Water Supply Project. The audit followed Chandigarh MP and former Union Minister Manish Tewari’s letter to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, emphasising an urgent need for a performance audit.
