Jaipur, March 29 -- Jaipur's drinking water supply will face a three-day disruption owing to pipeline repairs under the Bisalpur drinking water project, officials said on Saturday, adding that the work will begin early on Sunday. Additional chief engineer of the public heath and engineering department's Jaipur unit, Ajay Singh Rathore, said that water supply operations would remain suspended at the Surajpura pumping station from 8am on Saturday till Tuesday evening. "There may be a crisis on Sunday, when the repairs begin across pipelines and pumping stations. We will try to get things up and running by Tuesday evening," he said. "The repairs are part of the summer contingency plan, wherein the maximum share of Jaipur's summer water supply will be from the Bisalpur dam," said Rathore, adding that the repairs aimed to address gaps in the Bisalpur supply grid, which affected supply during the previous year. Officils said that the Bisalpur dam supply system serves roughly 525-550 MLD (million litres per day) to Jaipur, with a total transmission capacity designed to reach over 800 MLD, including supply to surrounding districts like Ajmer and Tonk. The system is reinforced by a reservoir of 1,040 MCuM (million cubic metres) capacity, and is currently reliable due to strong monsoon inflows, meeting the city's peak demand, they added. "Last year, major doubts arose over the main pipeline's ability to handle increasing capacity without leaking. Many small pipeline explosions were reported across the grid," said an official, on condition of anonymity. He added that the department was able to increase the supply only by 25 to 30 MLD, against a requirement of additional 200 MLD. "Considering the rise in temperature and lengthening summers, Jaipur requires an annual supply of over 700 MLD, with adjoining rural areas accounting for an additional 100 MLD. There are many new colonies yet to connect to the Bisalpur grid. In the next two years, the requirement will increase once these are incorporated. The grid lacks capacity for the greater demand. These repairs will at least ensure that the current requirement is met," said the officer. Officials also said that the additional supply under Jal Jeevan Mission also compounded the strain on the system. "The second phase of the Bisalpur project was planned in 2019, which predates the rollout of Jal Jeevan Mission," said the official quoted above, adding that the PHED's plan to link the Bisalpur grid with the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project was also delayed due to lack of proper implementation....