Water supply to Kalimpong to be resumed today

HT, 27 Oct 2016, DARJEELING: Kalimpong town in Darjeeling Hills is reeling under acute drinking water scarcity with the Public Health Engineering (PHE) failing to supply water to the town for the past five days. However, officials have assured that water supply will resume from Thursday. Water is sourced from Neora Khola and Thukchuk Khola under NeoraKhola Water Supply Scheme and pumped into a reservoir at Deolo, 5 km from Kalimpong town. From this reservoir PHE distributes water to the town.

“Diwali is just round the corner and the town is reeling under acute water scarcity. It is the tourist season too. For the past five days we have not received any water. We are now depending on private water tankers. With demand increasing there is heavy shortage that even the private water tankers are not being able to meet. They are failing to deliver and in some cases also selling water at a premium,” said Avishek Bagdas, a resident.

Usually residents have to dish out Rs 400 for 1,000 litres of water supplied by private tankers. The town requires around 11 lakh gallons of water daily whereas the water supplied through the Neora Khola Water Supply Scheme is 8 lakh gallons. Though this water scheme was founded in 1996 when the requirement was 8 lakh gallons it has not been upgraded since then despite demand increasing to 11 lakh gallons at present due to increase in population.

About 8,000 households receive water for about 30 days every second or third day depending on the availability of water. The remaining percentage of the population depends on natural springs and private water supply systems (tankers, hand carts) for their needs. The population of the town is around a lakh.

“There was a damage of the pipeline of the Neora Water Supply Scheme in Kanchipool area owing to a landslide. A large part of the protection wall was also washed away owing to this thereby damaging the pipeline. This is the reason why water could not be supplied. Temporary restoration work of the pipeline has been completed and water supply will resume on Thursday,” assured Rajen Pradhan, superintendent, Water Works Department, talking to Hindustan Times.

Pradhan further added that the town is dependent on the monsoonfed springs to in turn feed Neora and Thukchuk Kholas.