To tackle Ludhiana’s alarming groundwater contamination and fast depleting water table, a 6-km-deep pipeline from Bilga village to Ludhiana city is being laid under the Bulk Surface Water Supply Project. It promises to replace the city’s groundwater-based system with 24×7 canal supply.Deputy Mandal Magistrate Ludhiana (East) Jasleen Bhullar said that a major water supply project by the name Bulk Surface Water Supply Project for Ludhiana city-A is already underway. “The pipeline is being laid from Bilga village to Ludhiana. It is long (about 6 km) and deep. Approvals have already been obtained from the Drainage Department, PSPCL and PWD. Power poles are being shifted. The pipeline will be laid on the Sua road towards Nandpur village and then to the GT Road in order to transport water from Bilga village to Ludhiana city,” the SDM added.“Ludhiana is the most populous city of Punjab and an industrial hub of north India. The groundwater table is depleting at an alarming rate and is getting contaminated with phosphorus, magnesium and heavy metals. To make up for the same, the Punjab Government has envisaged a project for drinking water supply based on surface water. The project is being funded by the World Bank (35%), Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (35%) and state government (30%),” Bhullar said“It is aimed at moving from the present groundwater-based intermittent water supply system to canal based, 24×7 water supply system to achieve source sustainability, ecological balance, supply of potable water to consumers at adequate pressure, ICT enabled system with real time monitoring, optimising resource usage with minimum energy consumption and robust network with minimum leakages,” he shared.The SDM further said that the plan now was to shift the electricity poles first and then begin work on the pipeline. “All this work will take approximately two months, and the target is to complete it by June 30,” the authority asserted.The SDM said that for the past few days, heavy vehicles were being diverted to alternate route from 7 am to 8 pm to control heavy traffic at the Sahnewal chowk. “But since the work of lying of the pipeline must be accomplished on this very route, heavy vehicles shall not be able to ply on it for that period of time. So, the heavy vehicles shall have to be given a route from inside the town,” she said.At the same time, she appealed to the heavy vehicle owners to avoid taking the route from inside the town during daytime and prefer using it at night.Meanwhile, Cabinet minister Hardeep Singh Mundian, who is personally reviewing the work, assured that it would be completed within the stipulated time schedule. He appealed to the public to bear with the administration as the project had been designed very thoughtfully, keeping in mind the issues arising due to water contamination and the receding groundwater table,” the MLA opined.