Jaipur: Residents of southwest Jaipur are set to benefit from an expanded water supply initiative under the state govt’s Bisalpur 2.0 package, despite looming concerns over water availability as Rajasthan approaches the peak summer months. The public health engineering department (PHED) has announced that new household connections will reach over 3,000 residents in recently incorporated semi-urban areas under Jaipur Municipal Corporation.The newly added villages include Niwaru, Hathoj, Beer Hathoj, Boytawala and Peethawas, which now fall under PHED’s Prithviraj Nagar division. “Although the official deadline for the completion of these connections is Dec 31, we expect complete household connections by Feb 2027,” a PHED engineer said.The official added, “We have opened the application process in some of these areas. Once the applications are processed and approved, we will begin supplying water to the households in the designated colonies.”However, the expansion of the water supply comes at a time when residents are worried about potential drinking water shortages as summer approaches. A senior engineer at PHED indicated that while the current water storage levels at Bisalpur are not as critical as those of other surface sources across Rajasthan, the added connections necessitate careful management.“These additional connections are a significant concern, especially during peak consumption periods. We initiated contingency planning several months in advance and are looking into blending groundwater with the Bisalpur supply. At this stage, we will not provide new connections to high-rise buildings,” the engineer said.The department’s strategy involves phased connections and groundwater blending to ensure a balance between expanding water access and meeting the summer demands of Jaipur’s growing outskirts. Currently, the Prithviraj Nagar division supplies Bisalpur water to nearly 1.5 lakh individuals. Upon the project’s completion, this number is expected to reach 4.5 lakh, bringing the entire division under the Bisalpur supply network.The Prithviraj Nagar water supply scheme, which carries a budget of ₹747.08 crore, was cemented on July 4, 2023. It encompasses 46 elevated service reservoirs alongside an extensive distribution network designed to serve the rapidly developing colonies that have historically depended on tubewells, tankers and private water sources. As of now, PHED has successfully completed 45 reservoirs and laid over 2,342 km of pipelines, with the final reservoir at Pawanpuri West expected to be completed by the end of this month.
