Jalandhar civic body to keep tabs on car washing centres

JALANDHAR: In a bid to make sure that the potable water is not used in car washing centres, the Municipal Corporation Jalandhar (MCJ) is all set to start a survey from Thursday onwards to check injudicious use of water by such centres and take action against them.

Under the survey, the field inspectors of operation and maintenance (O&M) department will visit car washing centres in each part of the city and prepare report on the kind of water (portable or treated) being used for washing cars and their daily usage. There are over 200 car washing centres in the city.

The civic body has sprung into action at a time when the survey for diverting the Beas river water to meet freshwater requirement of the residents is in full swing.

Haasken, an US-based consultant, has been carrying out feasibility survey under canal water diversion project since February, 2018.

Operation and maintenance (O&M) superintendent Ravi Sharma informed that most of the car washing centres in the city are currently using potable water instead of treated water, which is illegal and can amount to penalty.

“On an average, daily consumption of water per person is 135 litres while the car washing centres generally use 400 to 500 litres of water for washing a single car which is a complete waste. They should use treated water which is also clean. ,” said O&M superintendent

“We will maintain a data on the number of car washing centres in the city and keep a vigil to stop injudicious use of drinking water,” he added.

As per the Central Groundwater Authority directions, one must have to get prior permission of the MC for installing a water pump of 1 horsepower (HP) but the civic body here does not have any such provisions.

Apart from keeping a tab on car washing centres, the civic body is also formulating measures to assure that rainwater harvesting system is completely implemented in the commercial buildings of more than 10 marlas.

The MC will also issue challan if the overhead reservoirs in housing societies are overflowing while filling.