Water to go to rural areas - Fulbari project not meant for civic area: Minister

Subrata Mukherjee, in Siliguri on
Sunday.  Picture by Kundan Yolmo

BIRESWAR BANERJEE, TT, Siliguri, Sept. 20: State PHE minister Subrata Mukherjee today said the proposed drinking water project at Fulbari was not meant for the Siliguri civic area but for residents in the panchayat areas.

In 2011 when Mukherjee had visited Siliguri, he had said that around seven lakh people residing in Siliguri would benefit from the water project.

His department had also planned to lay the foundation stone for the mega drinking water project that year.

Today, however, the minister said the project would supply water to the panchayats and excess water after distribution would be routed through the civic areas.

"The proposed drinking water project has been taken up for the residents of the panchayats. Water from the project would be supplied in the panchayats and in case, there is excess water, it would be routed to Siliguri civic area as there has been a rise in the population of Siliguri," Mukherjee told reporters here this afternoon.

"We are preparing a detailed project report and once it is complete, we will start the necessary work," he added.

The minister arrived here today to campaign for Trinamul in the upcoming three-tier polls of the Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad.

Although Mukherjee did not name the panchayats that would benefit, sources said the project was likely to serve areas under the Jalpaiguri district.

Four panchayats in the area are under the Assembly segment of Dabgram-Fulbari, the seat of minister Gautam Deb.

In 2011, when the project was announced, it was planned that 135 liltre of water would be given to each person in the SMC area daily.

At present, around 70 litre is supplied per resident per day.

"Water will be sourced from the Teesta in Gajaldoba (around 25km from here in Rajganj block of Jalpaiguri district). From there, it will be taken to Fulbari, treated and distributed across the SMC areas," Mukherjee had said on August 21, 2011.

The same day, he had held a meeting with Deb, Siliguri MLA Rudranath Bhattacharya, then Siliguri mayor Gangotri Dutta and officials of the PHE and Siliguri Municipal Corporation on the project.

It was planned that the project cost would be shared by the SMC, the state PHE, municipal affairs and urban development and north Bengal development departments.

The project was also mentioned in the election manifesto of Trinamul before the Siliguri Municipal Corporation polls this year.

Now, residents of the Siliguri civic area get drinking water from the Mahananda after it is treated at a plant in Fulbari.

After the civic elections, as Asok Bhattacharya assumed the mayor's chair, he went to Calcutta to meet Mukherjee to discuss the project.

Bhattacharya, however, could not meet the minister.

Mukherjee's comment today caught the mayor by surprise.

"I am surprised to hear such remarks. Only six months ago, his department had sanctioned Rs 2 crore to the SMC for maintenance of the drinking water supply infrastructure (when the Left board was not in power). Now, if he is saying that the proposed project is not for SMC, we apprehend that he is saying so because I am the mayor," Bhattacharya said.

"Nevertheless, we are hopeful that we will get necessary co-operation from the state PHE minister. If we do not get any help from the state, we will seek assistance from the Centre," he added.