Siliguri, June 2: The civic authorities today said disruption in drinking water supply in Siliguri in the past few days had been caused by erratic power supply and the ongoing maintenance work at the Teesta Barrage Project in Gazoldoba.
Saradindu Chakraborty, the member mayor-in-council (water supply) of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation, today said the civic area needed 48 million litres of water a day and there had been a supply of 35 million litres in the past three-four days.
“We need to have at least 21 hours of uninterrupted electricity supply at the water treatment plant in Fulbari to purify water collected from the Teesta canal and distribute it in wards. But the power supply is erratic these days. On the other hand, because of maintenance works at the Teesta Barrage Project (at Gazoldoba), we are getting less water from the source. These two issues are affecting the water supply,” Chakraborty said.
“Because of disruptions, we could supply only around 35 million litres of drinking water everyday in the town, whereas the regular demand is around 48 million litres,” he added.
Mayor Asok Bhattacharya today convened a meeting with Chakraborty and officials of the Teesta Barrage Project, state public health engineering department and the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited to discuss the matter.
“We have requested officials of the WBSEDCL to see that frequent power cuts at the water treatment plant are avoided. Also, officials of the Teesta Barrage Project have been asked to expedite maintenance works. Both of them have assured co-operation,” Chakraborty said.
He said the water supply was expected to become normal by the end of this month.
According to sources, it was pointed out at today’s meeting that around six-seven pumps in different locations of Siliguri needed to be replaced to prevent a sudden halt to the drinking water supply.
Asked about the condition of the pumps, Chakraborty said: “The SMC has recently paid Rs 1.50 crore to the water supply department for the maintenance of the pumps.”
