Siliguri could soon face acute shortage of drinking water

EOI & HindSam, 3 Janue 2014: The water supply department of Siliguri Municipal Corporation has failed to provide safe drinking water to a number of wards since the past few days. The situation in 14 wards under the civic body is alarming as not a single drop of drinking water is being supplied. Municipality officials have cited an overhauling of the water treatment plant as the reason for the suspension in supplies. But the outdated equipment and poor maintenance are the main reasons for the disruption in supplies, sources have said.

An unprecedented rise in demand for safe drinking water has gone up given the 48 per cent growth in the population of Siliguri, the change in climate and the construction of high-rise buildings in a rampant manner.

Amid the absence of elected representatives to man the SMC board following its recent dissolution, other employees have been found trying to shirk from the responsibility of restoring water supplies to several wards.

PHE sources said there is no water reservoir at the Fulbari Water Treatment plant and the department is fully dependent on water channeled from the Teesta canal. The area has hardly received proper rainfall over the past few days, while the construction of several low-dam projects along the Teesta’s course and the disappearance of the ice cap in the Jemu glacier (the point of origin of the Teesta) have further worsened the situation to reduce the water level of the river and subsequently of the canal. As the water level has gone below the minimum intake point, the plant is not getting adequate water for treatment and supply.

Former SMC mayor Gangotri Dutta last month warned there is every possibility about the corporation not being in a position to supply water at all. She added a project report on modernizing and repairing the Fulbari plant was sent to Kolkata for approval and sanctioning of funds, but there was no response till the time she resigned.

North Bengal University bio-technology department head Prof Ranadhir Chakraborty has said Siliguri residents will soon face an acute shortage of safe drinking water given the illegal constructions of buildings that use up huge amounts of underground water with the help of bore wells.