Indore to get project under Urban Challenge Fund to improve drinking water quality

Indore, Jul 6 (PTI) Efforts have begun to modernise the water supply system in Indore in Madhya Pradesh under the Union government's Urban Challenge Fund, officials said on Monday. A proposed project will implement real-time monitoring and other measures to improve drinking water quality in the country's cleanest city, they added. Indore Lok Sabha MP Shankar Lalwani said the proposed project under the Urban Challenge Fund will continuously monitor chlorine levels, water purity, and other quality parameters in drinking water, and irregularities will be immediately reported to authorities. "This system will be connected to a centralised control facility, providing real-time information for every area of the city. I recently met with Central government officials and experts to review the proposed project to strengthen and expand the city's water supply system to meet the needs of the next 20 years," Lalwani said. The MP said he has directed state government officials to expedite the preparation of a detailed project report (DPR). "Under the proposed project, the city's old pipelines will be replaced, the water supply network will be expanded to new areas, larger pipelines will be laid in areas with significant needs, and water pressure will be monitored," the BJP MP said. Officials said the 'Urban Challenge Fund', with a budget of Rs 1 lakh crore, aims to develop large-scale infrastructure projects in cities. Unlike the traditional grant-based model, under this fund, the Central government provides only 25 percent of the total project cost, while cities must raise at least 50 percent of the investment through market borrowing, bank loans, or public-private partnerships (PPPs), they pointed out. The remaining amount is raised from state governments, urban bodies or other sources, the officials said. This initiative comes at a time when a judicial inquiry is underway into the deaths of several people in the Bhagirathpura area of the city after being supplied contaminated drinking water in December 2025. PTI HWP MAS BNM