Mansoon weak in Rajasthan, water supply time reduced in Jaipur

Rajasthan and with little sign of the monsoon's arrival, water scarcity has worsened in the state. With the monsoon delayed by nearly two weeks, the Bisalpur Dam, the main source of water for the cities of Jaipur and Ajmer is in danger of drying up by July 30. The Rajasthan and Gehlot government have prepared an Emergency Plan. Private tubewells will be used for water supply by the government and even borewells in parks and gardens will be used to provide water to people through tankers. "We have finalised an emergency scheme. We will use tubewells to supply water to people. Jaipur's daily share of water from the Bisalpur dam will now be made half and some colonies on the city's outskirts will now get water once in 2 days," said Mahipal Maderna, Water Minister, Rajasthan.
The Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) has reduced water supply time by 10 minutes in some areas in the city from Thursday. The department officials said the timing of the supply was reduced in Vidhyadhar Nagar, Vaishali Nagar, Vishwakarma Industrial area, Ambabadi and Mansarovar in the city. The measures were taken to tide over the crisis facing the city and stretch the resources considering the delay of the monsoon in the state. Meanwhile, people took to the streets in protest against the alleged erratic supply of water in their localities. About a 100 protesters including women led by BJP MLA Kalicharan Saraf jammed Tilak Marg in Raja Park and later mobbed the nearby PHED office demanding resumption of water supply and strengthening of tanker supply system.