Chandigarh, Sept 17: Chandigarh’s crumbling sewerage network, plagued by frequent overflows, foul smell and road cave-ins, may undergo its most ambitious rehabilitation yet, with the Municipal Corporation preparing a ₹600-crore city-wide upgrade plan.
Officials said the project aims to desilt and reinforce nearly 800 km of underground pipelines that date back to 1955. “At the time, the system was designed for a much smaller population. Over the years, the city has grown manifold, but sewer capacity has not kept pace. The lines are now damaged at several points and though repaired in patches, the overall system is under severe stress,” municipal officials noted.
The civic body has reported repeated bursts, sewage leakages and blockages, especially during monsoons when road cave-ins are common. Repairs are often complicated as the pipelines run beneath roads, tree roots and even buildings. “The reduced pipe volume is causing regular bursts, foul smell and sewage overflow onto roads,” said one official.
Currently, the sewer grid connects all 58 sectors of the city—including Sectors 1 to 56, as well as 61 and 63—spanning 114.5 square kilometers, along with 22 peripheral villages. The sewage is treated at plants located in Diggian, 3 BRD, Raipur Khurd, Raipur Kalan, Maloya, Dhanas and Kishangarh. The underground infrastructure also accommodates water supply lines, stormwater drains and network cables.
Municipal engineers said they had explored two possible approaches—replacing the entire network or rehabilitating existing pipelines. “Full replacement is neither practical nor financially feasible. The digging, road cutting and recarpeting would disrupt traffic for years, and shutting down sewage lines in entire sectors is impossible,” an official explained.
Instead, the corporation is leaning toward rehabilitation through the Cured-In-Place Pipe (CIPP) method, a liner-based technology using hot water or steam to strengthen old networks. Officials said similar projects in Delhi had shown the method to be effective without full-scale excavation. “Rehabilitation is the more viable option for Chandigarh,” the official added.
The civic body, however, faces a steep funding challenge. Burdened with committed liabilities, the MC has struggled to restart development projects after a one-and-a-half year pause. Officials acknowledged that the ₹600-crore project cannot be financed internally and would require assistance from the UT administration.
Municipal Commissioner Amit Kumar said the engineering wing’s survey revealed that much of the brick-masonry pipeline was inadequate to handle current and future load. “There is a need to augment the existing sewer line through the CIPP method in trunk mains and to undertake large-scale desilting operations. The estimate for rehabilitation stands at ₹600 crore. Given the urgency and public welfare involved, we will seek approvals and financial support from the administration at the earliest,” Kumar said.
If approved, officials believe the overhaul could put an end to recurring sewer failures and ease public inconvenience that has plagued Chandigarh for years.
