Meanwhile, the exercise is not only saving water for the Municipal Corporation, it has also slashed the civic body’s monthly electricity bill by nearly Rs 13 lakh. This is because for the MC doesn’t have to switch on its 450 tubewells during the afternoon these days.

Says Kulwinder Singh Dhillon, Superintending Engineer in the MC’s O&M Cell, “We are in the habit of wasting water. We though of suspending the afternoon water supply because consumption is less during this season. We will resume the practice once summer sets in”.

“We have also started cleaning sewers in all the wards of Ludhiana during the afternoon. Then there are several water pipes which leak. We are trying to fix those. All this repair will come in handy during the summer months. At present, the suspension of water supply during the afternoons, is helping us fix all this,” said Dhillon.

The MC gives water supply from noon till 2 pm in the afternoon and and in the morning and evening from 5 to 9.

Residents, however, complain that the evening water supply never starts before 6 pm.

Meenu Prashar, a resident of BRS Nagar, said, “In the morning and evening, we don’t get water at full pressure. We have to use pumps. As far as the afternoons are concerned, even pumps don’t work”.