Authorities of the Kalimpong municipality on Thursday officially informed residents of the hill town that they are taking up a drinking water project under a central scheme to meet a longstanding demand of the people.
The project, which has been taken up under the Centre’s Amrut (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) 2.0 scheme, will be executed with an estimated cost of around ₹266 crore.
“Today (Thursday), we elaborated on the proposed drinking water project before the residents through a PowerPoint presentation. The estimated cost is Rs 265.97 crore,” said Ravi Pradhan, the chairman of the board of administrators of the hill civic body.
The presentation was held in the presence of Ruden Sada Lepcha, the local MLA, officials of the state municipal engineering directorate (MED), and officials of the civic body at the Town Hall, a prominent auditorium in Kalimpong.
Under the scheme, 50 per cent of the project cost will be shared by the Centre while the state will share 40 per cent. The rest 10 per cent will be borne by the civic body. The MED and the municipality will jointly execute the project.
“We will initiate the tender process in March. Once the process is complete, we have set a target to finish the project within 24 months,”
said Pradhan.
The Kalimpong municipality was established in 1945 when the town had a population of only around 4,000.
As of now, the town has 23 wards. Around 80,000 people dwell in the civic area. There is a drinking water supply facility for households and commercial areas but the supply is too inadequate vis-à-vis the demand.
Because of poor supply, people have to buy or arrange water for drinking and other purposes.
Bagdhara, a hilly stream in ward 12 of the town is the major source of water for
the town.
“There are some other streams from where water is sourced for the town. The requirement is around 7 million litres per day (MLD) while the municipality can hardly provide 2 million litres per day. The new project will be able to largely meet the demand,” said a civic body source.
The proposed project, sources said, will be implemented in phases.
Under the plan, three pumping stations will be installed at Bhalukhola, Lower Newar Gaon, and Mahakaldara.
