Water hope

TT, Siliguri, June 11: Siliguri municipal commissioner S.W. Bhutia said today that installation of both the new pump and the repaired old one were done at the Pareshnagar pump to resume supply to nine SMC wards that have not got water for the last 13 days.

He said some technical reasons had become hurdles in restoring the water supply.

“Today, we could distribute water in some of the areas of these wards for some time. But the flow was poor. We are confident that full-fledged water supply would resume tomorrow,” he said.

According to SMC sources, after the pumps were installed, it was found that because of absence of water supply and lack of pressure, the distribution pipes got filled with air.

“It is a common problem. Unless the air is sucked out of the pipes, water cannot be distributed with full force. The technicians are now trying to do that by tonight,” the source said.

The halt in water supply since May 29 has affected over 50,000 residents in the nine wards. People had to either buy bottled water or queue up near public taps in other wards to fill buckets several times each day.

Dulal Dutta, the Trinamul councillor for ward 38, said: “Everyday, people flock near my house and ask when the supply would resume. We fail to understand why it is taking so long.”