KMC struggles to meet water demand in south Kolkata – Times of India

KOLKATA: In a desperate attempt to bridge the widening gap between demand and supply of drinking water in the Tollygunge-Jadavpur belt, KMC has agreed to lift the curb on use of groundwater and sink fresh tube wells. The KMC water supply department in Borough X has sanctioned the sinking of a big diameter tube well in the Netaji Nagar area after an existing tube well started malfunctioning.
While the tube well will bring immediate relief to residents in the locality where sections still depend on groundwater, green activists are concerned over the medium- and long-term impact of such nods despite warnings from the ground water board about the sharp depletion in water table. The belt is also prone to arsenic contamination in groundwater.
Apart from allowing sinking of fresh tube wells, the KMC water supply department is also sending tankers to the parched neighbourhoods. According to a KMC water supply department official, since residents in several neighbourhoods in the Tollygunge-Jadavpur belt and areas along EM Bypass are heavily dependent on groundwater, a scarcity has hit some of these pockets with the groundwater level depleting due to absence of rain for a prolonged time. The only means to resolve the water crisis is to send sufficient water tankers to the tube-well zones, said a KMC water supply department official.
“Even a couple of days ago, we were sending 80 water tankers daily to large parts of the city to meet the increasing demand. Now we need to supply over 100 tankers. Majority of the supply is meant for the residents who are dependent on groundwater,” said a KMC official.
Suman Raha, a resident of Mukundapur, has been spending Rs 450 every alternate day to fill his water reservoir as a part of the area has been hit by a scarcity. “The situation is alarming here. Hit by a severe water crisis, we have been compelled to buy water for our survival. Luckily, we are getting water tankers at this hour of crisis,” said Raha.
Basabi Nandi, a teacher and a resident of Ganguly Bagan, on Wednesday expressed apprehension over the future supply of water from a local tube well as the supply from this source has become scarce. “It is not possible for us to buy water every day. The KMC brass should arrange for drinking water as soon as possible,” she said.