GMDA starts new phase of smart water management system in city, connect 66 underground water tanks

The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) has started working on a new phase of the pilot project for Centralised Integrated Water Management System (CIWMS) to connect 66 underground water tanks in the city, said officials on Thursday.

The initiative aims at “equitable distribution of potable water” across the city, by tapping illegal connections, according to the officials.

In the 28th core planning committee meeting held earlier this week, chief executive officer (CEO) of GMDA Sudhir Rajpal directed the officials to start working on a 900mm water line from the water treatment plant in Chandu to Sector 5. This line connects 66 underground water tanks and covers areas such as sectors 9, 9A, 4, 7, 12 and New Colony in Gurugram.

The GMDA has been trying to develop a pipeline network for the distribution of water to consumers like Municipal Corporation of Gurugram, colonisers, and industrial, commercial and institutions among other usage points through five main distribution pipelines in the city -- the supply and control of which will be monitored from the Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC).

“Based on the result achieved in the pilot project, which started last year, further scaling of water pipelines is being done in the GMDA Area. As per discussions during the core planning committee meeting, we have started working on the 900mm water line... with flow control devices, level sensors, and electromagnetic flow meters among other devices being procured, which will be installed in the underground tanks. Ground installation of these censors will also start within a month. The water infrastructure will have centralised monitoring, and will help in reducing the non-revenue water,” said a senior official, smart city division of GMDA, requesting anonymity.

In December 2021, the GMDA “reduced non-revenue water (NRW) along the Basai-Dundahera pipeline by tapping illegal connections from 50% to almost 11% in four months”. NRW is the water released by the authority, but “lost” due to leakage, theft or otherwise before reaching the customer, thus generating no revenue.

Last year, the authority tested the system through a pilot project from Basai till Dwarka. The water supplied across Gurugram comes from the Mundik canal and the Yamuna channel. This raw water is carried to the water treatment plants (WTPs) at Basai and Chandu Budera, which have a daily operational capacity of 270MLD and 300MLD, respectively. There are two boosting stations in sectors 16 and 51, to help overcome the difficulty of transporting water to eastern parts of the city which is on higher ground than the two WTPs.