The drinking water supply in Siliguri, which had been disrupted because of the turbidity of the Teesta, was restored after four days on Thursday.
Mayor Gautam Deb said the Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) had decided to take some steps to prevent further disruption of the water supply during the monsoon.
In Siliguri, water is drawn from the Teesta canal and filtered at the treatment plant in Fulbari, which is located on the southern outskirts of the city. The water is then distributed in all 47 wards through a network of pipelines and reservoirs.
The turbidity or presence of suspended particles like sand and granules had increased in the water because of intensive rainfall in the upper catchments of the river, especially in Sikkim.
This had prompted the SMC to regulate the inflow of water to the intake well of the treatment plant, as there was an apprehension of excess silt deposit in the well, which could further affect the water supply.
The SMC engaged mobile tanks to supply water to the residents on their doorsteps.
However, as the weather conditions improved, the water’s quality also improved, which helped in the restoration of the water supply in the city.
“The water supply has normalised in the city. Considering the sudden situation that led to a disruption in the supply, we have taken certain steps to avoid it. I have requested officials of the state urban development and municipal affairs department to dig up a fresh pond in the treatment plant area where water can be stored. This water, in turn, can be treated and distributed whenever needed,” said Deb.
As of now, there is no such storage facility in the plant. “The state irrigation department will clear silt from the old intake well to keep the inflow of water steady from the canal,” he added.
Added to it, the SMC has set in motion the process of installing 11 deep tube wells at different locations in the city to handle the water crisis and provide alternative options to people to collect drinking water.
“The tender process for this work (installation of tube wells) has been completed. We have also decided to build eight more overhead reservoirs to store more water. The locations of the new reservoirs have been identified,” the mayor added.
As of now, the demand for drinking water in Siliguri is around 100 million litres per day (MLD), while the civic body can supply around 50 MLD, considering the present infrastructure of the treatment plant.