Agartala, July 16 (TIWN): The Agartala Municipal Corporation is planning to augment the drinking water supply system of the city area with a number of new drinking water projects in the current financial year.

The Corporation authorities are expecting eight over head tanks, twelve Deep Tube wells, two new ground water treatment plants and new distribution pipelines, official sources said. The projects were undertaken with an estimated project cost of Rs. 78 crores under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

A highly placed source in the Agartala Municipal Corporation today said that the authorities had taken up urgent works on drinking water issues and a budgetary provision of Rs. 20 lakhs was made in the recent outcome budget for sinking of Shallow Tube Wells, replacement and repair of shallow tube wells. A special drive would be jointly undertaken with the Drinking Water and Sanitation Department to prevent the water leakages and water theft, the source added.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) funded drinking water project in central east and south zeons were already been taken up in phases.

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.