Due to a severe shortage of drinking water, numerous people in Siliguri were seen queuing at various locations to purchase potable water today.
The citizens of Siliguri are facing a grave situation as the Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) has advised against consuming the water due to its test results. According to laboratory evaluations, the water is deemed hazardous due to low levels of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD).
However, political groups have begun to protest about the problem of a shortage of drinking water in Siliguri.
The BJP has called for the resignation of the SMC mayor, prompting Left organizations to protest in front of the SMC today.
Today, the Left politicians stopped mayor Goutam Deb from supervising the arrangements of safe drinking water distribution through different methods. Both Mr Deb and his deputy Ranjan Sarkar faced Left supporters’ ire. The disagreement started with the deputy mayor Mr Sarkar when Left activists, including SUCI (C), objected to the decision to distribute contaminated drinking water to the public. The police ultimately resolved the situation today.
Asok Bhattacharya, a former minister and SMC mayor, alleged that the current mayor is guilty of distributing unsafe drinking water and should be reported to the police.
“The citizens of Siliguri have gathered here for legitimate purposes, not for political reasons. During my term as mayor, members of the Trinamul Congress physically assaulted me because the public health engineering department had to halt the water supply for only two days,” Mr Bhattacharya added.
Siliguri mayor Goutam Deb expressed his disappointment to the media, stating that the actions of the Left party are regrettable. “The situation became dire after the occurrence of a natural disaster, making it a challenging task to combat mother nature’s wrath. It is disheartening that instead of working together to resolve the crisis, the Left leaders are using it as a political opportunity,” Mr Deb said, adding, “They should prioritize finding solutions rather than playing politics in this critical situation.”
He hoped common sense would prevail.
The water shortage problem started when the irrigation and waterways department chose to start fixing the Teesta Barrage Project’s embankments and other problems. It was agreed that raw surface water from Teesta river would continue to be provided from 25 May. However, due to heavy rainfall in the upper catchment regions, the officials were unable to complete the necessary repairs within the designated time frame.
According to BJP leader Shankar Ghosh, Mr Deb is not morally obligated to remain in his position. It is regrettable that while his ward, 33, has been provided with alternative arrangements for 24 hours, other wards are only receiving water tanks once a day.
In response to the residents of Siliguri purchasing water from private sources, mayor Goutam Deb has instructed the police to closely oversee the market to prevent traders from inflating the prices of bottled water. He also stated that the police will investigate the origins of the water being sold in the market.
In Siliguri, locals are being compelled to purchase water from stores due to poor quality of drinking water supply through tanks.
It has been reported that the corporation had to procure water from nearby bottlers in order to address the present crisis.
The Siliguri Welfare Organisation (SWO) has raised concerns about the current issue of drinking water shortage. Members of SWO are also worried about the unscientific and illegal extraction of groundwater, as well as the lack of attention given to rainwater harvesting and widespread deforestation in the area. In response, SWO has launched a programme called ‘Adopt a Tree’ in Siliguri.
Debarati Dasgupta, a member of the SWO, responded to the current water shortage by suggesting that a public interest litigation could be brought against the Corporation for providing contaminated drinking water to the people of Siliguri.
A group of individuals are expressing their dissatisfaction and debating that the Corporation should have conducted tests on the purified waters of Mahananda before distributing it to the public.