Kolkata Municipal Corporation has received approval from the state government to augment the capacity of the Dhapa water treatment plant in the eastern part of the city.
The Dhapa water treatment plant has capacity to produce 30 million gallons in a day now and after the augmentation, it will be able to produce 20 million gallons more which in an increase by 66 per cent.
The Telegraph had earlier reported that the civic body was planning to augment the capacity. “The state government has approved our proposal for the capacity augmentation of Dhapa water treatment plant. We have received both the administrative and financial approvals,” said an official of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC).
The official said the work for augmentation would start around Durga Puja this year and the deadline has been set at two years from the beginning of work. The project will cost Rs 129 crore.
“The increased water production will increase the pressure of water in the pipelines. Water from the Dhapa water treatment plant is supplied to areas along the two sides of EM Bypass, between Science City and Garia,” said the KMC official.
Among the areas that will benefit are parts of Kasba, Jadavpur and Tollygunge. Areas like Mukundapur, Anandapur, VIP Baazar and Picnic Garden will also benefit.
A vast swathe of places in these localities still depend on underground water sucked up through pumps. But the quality and taste of the water is not comparable to the potable water produced in the treatment plants, residents and civic officials have both said.
The KMC aims to decommission the underground water lifting pumps in some places if it sees that the augmented capacity serves the need of people in these areas.
When the Dhapa water treatment first began producing potable water in 2014, it was thought that the plant would solve the water crisis. But as the population burgeoned in the last one decade along the two sides of EM Bypass, the production fell short of meeting demand.
KMC will also have to build a few booster pumping stations in the command area of the Dhapa water treatment plant in order to give the full benefit of the increased production to the residents. A booster pumping station gives a thrust to the water already in the distribution network to increase its pressure. The thrust takes the water to remote corners of the supply network.
KMC has also submitted a detailed project report to build another water treatment plant at Briji, along the EM Bypass. The proposal is to build it to produce 10 million gallon water everyday. The plant at Briji could further reduce the water woes of Tollygunge, Jadavpur and Garia.
