A civic body that can't supply treated water to hundreds of homes spread across six wards has set out to produce and sell mineral water for profit.
The Howrah Municipal Corporation (HMC) has decided to invest Rs 5 crore in a mineral water plant that would be part of Padmapukur Water Works, the district's lone water treatment facility.
A private company has been commissioned to prepare a detailed project report and submit it to mayor Rathin Chakrabarti, who is convinced that Howrah has water to spare, brand and sell despite several areas still out of the supply network.
"There is no dearth of drinking water in Howrah. Padmapukur Water Works generates 50 million gallons daily and we have been supplying sufficient quantity of treated water to all households. The extra gallons we have will be used to produce packaged drinking water at a new plant. This will generate revenue for the HMC," the mayor told Metro.
For residents of areas where the arrival of a water tanker during the drier months is cause for celebration, there couldn't be a more cruel irony than the prospect of buying a bottle of mineral water produced in a plant that has failed to provide them water for regular use.
In 2013, a young man was fatally injured in a quarrel that broke out while queuing up for water.
Since 2014, the HMC has installed 29 deep tubewells, 18 of them in the six wards where water is scarce. The rest are in south and central Howrah, within the core area (wards 32, 38, 39, 41, 42 and 8, 25, 26).
Residents of wards 45, 46, 47, 48, 49 and 50 say tubewells are not the solution. They want pipelines carrying treated water to reach their homes in neighbourhoods like Bhot Bagan, Peyara Bagan, Harekrishnanagar, Santinagar and Unsani.
"In the scorching heat of summer, people fight with each other in the queues in front of tubewells. During monsoon, these wells get contaminated and spread diseases. I have repeatedly urged the mayor to complete the task of laying pipelines so that everyone gets water directly from Padmapukur. His standard response is that the municipal corporation is short of funds," said Azbahar Ali Midday, the CPM councillor of ward 46.
Criticism isn't coming from the Opposition alone. Masud Alam Khan, a Trinamul leader whose wife Nasreen Khatun is the councillor of ward 45, said citizens had started questioning the party's commitment to providing treated water in every household.
"We have to face questions in our neighbourhood every day. People want treated water and that should be a priority for the HMC. The people of my area won't buy mineral water. They are waiting for a water connection. If I raise my voice in HMC, it will be a voice against my party. What can I do if it is the mayor's decision (to start a mineral water plant)?" Khan said.
Municipal commissioner Nilanjan Chatterjee said it wasn't as if wards 45 to 50 were completely being denied treated water. "About 45 per cent of households in the added areas get treated water through pipelines," he insisted.
The households that aren't getting treated water use deep tubewells installed by the civic body along with hand pumps, commissioner Chatterjee said.
The site of the proposed mineral water plant is a 17-cottah plot within the boundary walls of Padmapukur Water Works. "The basic intention is to provide bottled drinking water at an affordable price in Howrah and elsewhere," the mayor said.
Saikat Choudhury, chairman of borough 6, has been given the responsibility of overseeing the project. "The HMC will fund the entire project and employ technicians required in the plant. Vast tracts of land in Padmapukur are lying unused and this is one way of putting the asset to good use," he said.
The civic body plans to set up a bottle plant later with internal funding. "We have to buy bottles from outside at first. We are hiring a private company to market the brand," Choudhury said.
