Acute water crisis amid high temperature

PRASHANT ACHARYA, EOI, Siliguri, 25 Apr 2014: With the mercury hovering around 40 degrees Celsius, the residents of Bidhan Nagar, Chathat and Ghoshpukur areas under Phansidewa block are bearing the brunt of a water crisis as most of the tube wells have turned bone dry, wells and rivers just full of sand and piped water supply projects non-functional.

The villagers, who are primarily dependant on the tea sector and agriculture, fear that if the temperature continues to remain around 40 degrees and the rains for another week or so, the entire area is set to face a severe crisis.

The water level in these areas has decreased drastically over the past few weeks and crops are dying due to severe heat and lack of irrigation.

Sivesh Bhowmik, a businessman from Bidhan Nagar, said, “The situation is worsening here due to shortage of water. All wells and ponds have dried up while tube wells have become useless.”

 “If there is no rain by end of this month, the rivers will dry up and we may have no water left even to drink,” said Bidhan Nagar resident Sudhir Ghosh.

The plight of the villagers living in places such as Matidhar, Bhimbahar, Kumartuli, Milan Pally, Sahadargach and others is even worse as not a single well has water level more than a foot high.

Tea sector and pineapple cultivation serve as the base of the economy in Phansidewa. In order to irrigate tea bushes and pineapples, ground water is drawn out using boring pumps. Villagers are strongly against this practice as they say this is the chief reason behind the decline in the level of ground water.

When asked for his comments on the complaints of the villagers and the water shortage issue, Phansidewa agriculture development officer Mehfooz Ahamed said, “There is no provision from the government to take any steps against the garden authorities from boring water from the ground.”

He cited helplessness in taking action against someone who is boring water from his own land even as he admitted the water level has receded alarmingly this season.

Ahamed further said, “Ample amounts of water were supplied from the Teesta Canal for the irrigation 450 hectares of agricultural land in the area.”

Phansidewa BDO B Mitra said 40 tube wells have been set up in the villages under the Chathat and Bidhan Nagar areas. He further said wells and tube wells are difficult to bore in the Headmoore and Singhiajhora areas as the soil there is very rocky.