Money will not be a constraint for water supply projects, mayor Firhad Hakim said on Saturday after a flurry of complaints about water scarcity from several neighbourhoods flooded the weekly phone-in programme Talk to Mayor.
Large parts of Kolkata, like Tollygunge, Behala, Jadavpur, Garia and Kasba, have erratic or consistently poor water supply.
The problem is compounded in summer when the demand goes up. Serpentine queues in front of community taps are common scenes then. Also, a common feature in most of these places is a manifold jump in population with new and large constructions.
An engineer told the mayor that the increase in population in south and southeast Kolkata was outpacing the increase in water supply, turning new infrastructure inadequate within a few years.
Hakim said the problems would be assuaged with the construction of a new water treatment plant in New Garia’s Dhalai bridge and the augmentation of capacity in the Dhapa water treatment plant is completed in two years. An additional 30 million gallons would be produced in these two plants and be supplied to the water-scarce pockets.
“Money will not be a constraint. I am waiting with the money. Come and tell me. I will make money available for water supply projects,” Hakim told the head of the KMC’s water supply department, who was also present in the room.
One of the callers, from Rajani Banerjee Road near Behala Silpara, said they had to buy water as the corporation’s supply did not meet the requirements of residents.
The water supply department’s head told the mayor there was water shortage in wards 125 to 128 in Behala and Thakurpukur.
“We built a booster pumping station at Daspara (in Thakurpukur) in 2015-16 but the problems have again surfaced. What used to be open fields have large residential buildings on them now. The development of the place has been so rapid,” he said.
Demand is growing at a faster rate than the increase in supply, said an official.
Another caller, from Kalikapur off EM Bypass, spoke about water scarcity in his neighbourhood.
The senior official again told the mayor that wards 106, 108 and 107 had several pockets with water shortage. These wards cover areas like Anandapur and parts of Kasba.
The civic body had planned a water treatment plant near Dhalai bridge and its work is likely to begin soon. The plant will produce 10 million gallons water every day. The Dhapa water treatment plant will see an increase in its daily production by 20 million gallons.
“These two plants will be the mainstays of water supply to the water-scarce pockets,” said an official.
The two largest water treatment plants supplying water to Kolkata are the Palta water treatment plant and the Garden Reach plant. The plant at Palta produces 262 million gallons a day and supplies potable water to north and central Kolkata and up to Bhowanipore in the south.
The Garden Reach plant supplies water to most of the south and southern suburbs. But there are pockets in Behala and Kasba where the water pressure is very low. Many of these areas draw underground water using pumps.
Hakim said the state government was spending crores of rupees to improve distribution and supply of potable water.
“We are spending more than Rs 200 crore to produce 30 million gallons. Another Rs 200 crore is being spent to build booster pumping stations. Besides, larger pipes are being laid underground to take water from the Hooghly, near Kidderpore, to the new water treatment plant,” he said.
Many Kolkatans would hope that these projects see the light of day soon.
