Over Five Lakh Residents Hit As Kolar Water Supply Suffers Due To Delayed Forest Clearance

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): More than five lakh residents dependent on the Kolar water supply are facing repeated disruptions due to frequent power trippings at the Kolar Pump House located inside the Ratapani Tiger Reserve area.

The problem has intensified as permission for maintenance and tree-pruning work, sought by the electricity distribution company, remains pending with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in Delhi.

Officials of the Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) said power trippings occurred 13 times in the last 25 days at the 170 MLD (million litres per day) Kolar Pump House in Jhiribheda village, affecting the city s water distribution system.

Every outage results in pumps shutting down, and restoring operations takes nearly one-and-a-half to two hours, disrupting the entire supply chain.

On Monday morning, the first outage occurred at 8.24 am, while electricity was restored after 9 am. Another power trip took place around 4 pm on the same day. In both cases, it took nearly 90 minutes to restart the pumps and stabilise the water supply system.

Officials said sudden power failures directly affect pumping operations and reduce water pressure in several parts of the city.

Maintenance delayed due to forest clearance

According to officials of the Madhya Kshetra Vidyut Vitaran Company (MPEB Rural), pre-monsoon maintenance work and pruning of trees near electricity lines could not be carried out on time as the pump house falls within the Ratapani Tiger Reserve area.

The company has written twice to the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department this month seeking permission, but approval has not yet been granted. Power company officials said they have repeatedly been informed that the proposal is pending approval in Delhi.

Frequent faults disrupt water supply

| Date | Number of Power Trippings

| May 2 | 3

| May 3 | 2

| May 4 | 1

| May 8 | 2

| May 13 | 1

| May 15 | 1

| May 21 | 1

| May 25 | 2

Official Statement

Speaking with Free Press BMC s Superintending Engineer Udit Garg said that a letter will be sent to the electricity distribution company on Tuesday to address the recurring power trips so that the city s water supply remains uninterrupted.