3.2L in 21 BMC wards inch closer to pure water supply
Times of India | 20 May 2025
Kolkata: The Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has started executing the Rs 333 crore project of setting up a water distribution network to supply filtered water across Rajarhat-Gopalpur, covering BMC wards 1 to 21. Overhead tanks and underground reservoirs will also be set up under the scheme. After completion of the project, surface-treated filtered water will be supplied from the New Town water treatment plant to households, benefiting close to 3.2 lakh people, officials said."As per the plan, there will be 14 overhead tanks, four underground reservoirs, and a new distribution network line for supplying filtered water. Soil testing was done and work to lay the main distribution lines has started. The entire project is expected to be completed in two years," said a BMC official. The funding is being done under the Centre's AMRUT scheme. Presently, several areas in the Rajarhat-Gopalpur belt, which includes areas surrounding the airport, Kaikhali, Baguiati, Tegharia, parts of Kestopur, and other adjacent places, don't have overhead tanks or a distribution network for supplying filtered water to the households.Residents in these areas mostly depend on underground water reserves. This vast belt was previously under the erstwhile Rajarhat-Gopalpur Municipality, which was dissolved after the entire area was integrated with Bidhannagar in 2015 during the formation of BMC.When it comes to filtered water, BMC receives close to 17 MGD per day at present. Around 10 MGD comes from Tala and the rest is supplied from the New Town water treatment plant. But most of it is supplied to Salt Lake households only. Residents also claimed that presently water supplied to the households has high levels of iron. " We hope to get a supply of filtered surface water soon," said Kaustav Dey, a resident of a multi-storied high-rise apartment close to Chinar Park."Our aim is to provide filtered water to all households across BMC area," said BMC MMIC (water supply), Tulsi Sinha Roy.BMC has also come up with a blueprint to revamp the 2,700 km-long water supply pipeline network in Salt Lake. Another civic official claimed that the demand for water in Salt Lake was increasing with the rise in population.