The state government has approved a sum of ₹30 crore to rejuvenate supply to the twin Senchal lakes in Darjeeling.

Water is collected through 22 streams in the two Senchal lakes which is then distributed to Darjeeling town.

The north and south lakes at Senchal have storage capacities of 20 million gallons and 13 million gallons, respectively.

“The water in the lake goes through a total 22 hilly streams through pipelines. But over the decades there has been no renovation of pipelines. It has been decided to renovate the pipelines and rejuvenate the lake by spending the fund,” Chittaranjan Barman, the chief engineer of the municipal engineering directorate (MED), north zone, said.

The MED works under the department of urban development and municipal affairs.

A source said the lake on the hill was situated over 8,000 feet above sea level in Senchal Wildlife Sanctuary, located some 10km from Darjeeling town.

The lake was built during the British era. The northern part of the lake was constructed in 1910 and the southern part of it was built in the early 1930s.

A source in the civic body in Darjeeling municipality said the residents of Darjeeling face acute water shortage because of the decades-long poor management of drinking water supply, especially during the tourist season. Once the project is implemented, it will help to overcome the crisis of water supply, the source added.

Another source said a major drinking water project for Darjeeling under AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) is currently being undertaken at an estimated cost of ₹205 crore.

“Currently, work is in progress near Jorebunglow. We are hopeful that the project will be completed soon,” said a source.

The project entails relaying all pipes in town, setting up 30 water tanks for the 32 wards in Darjeeling and putting in place 14 pump houses at different locations in town.

The department is also considering two more drinking water projects for Darjeeling.

Plans are being drawn up to pump water from the confluence of the Teesta and the Rangeet rivers.

Another plan entails drawing up water from the Srikhola area, which is situated at an altitude of more than 8,000 feet.

Darjeeling town is situated at an altitude of around 6,700 feet.

“We are evaluating the technical viability of these projects. Also, Srikhola is situated around 80km from Darjeeling,” said a source.

The MED also plans to rejuvenate Sumendu Lake in Mirik by spending ₹11 crore. Work includes dredging of silts, building a protection wall on the damaged stretches of the bank and constructing a pathway that surrounds the lake area.

The iconic water body of the hill town is spread over 1.5sqkm. A major tourist attraction, it has crowds almost throughout the year. The department of urban development and municipal affairs has recently taken up a project to clean the lake water by setting up sewage treatment plants at an estimated project cost of ₹8.5 crore.