Households will never get enough water unless councillors stand united against the practice of breaking the taps of roadside stand pipes and drawing water directly from supply taps, sources in the Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC) have pointed out.

“Most roadside taps (stand pipes in technical parlance) are in and around slums and the local councillors, with one or two exceptions, look the other way when residents break the taps to get uninterrupted supply,” said an official in the water supply department.

“Around 15 million gallons of filtered water are wasted daily because of broken taps of the roadside stand pipes. The wastage results in a sharp drop in water pressure in the neighbourhoods and inadequate supply to households,” the official added.

There are 17,000 roadside stand pipes in the city and the figure is rising, thanks to lobbying by councillors of all parties. “More than 98 per cent of the pipes do not have a tap,” said mayoral council member (water) Mrinal Kanti Mondol.

An engineer in the water supply department who did not want to be named said Pradip Ghosh, the Trinamul Congress councillor of ward 50, had sealed about a dozen stand pipes with broken taps in the Bowbazar area.

“I have asked water supply engineers to seal a stand pipe if it’s found without a tap or with a broken tap. I have also advised them to contact me if they face resistance,” said Ghosh.

Another reason for the dip in pressure is indiscriminate drawing of water by pumps from supply taps. “If water is drawn directly from the civic supply pipe with the help of a pump, there will be a steep fall in pressure in the vicinity,” said chief engineer (water supply) Bibhas Maity. “Low-pressure pockets are spreading in Burrabazar, Colootola, Park Circus, Kidderpore, Entally, Rajabazar, Topsia, Tiljala and Garden Reach because of this illegal practice,” said an official.