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GMC claims to supply 450 lakh litres of water daily to its consumers

Sentinel Digital Desk

Residents of prime localities reject civic body's claim

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) has asserted that it is making all efforts to ensure regular supply of drinking water. The civic body has also claimed that it is daily providing about 450 lakh litres of water to its 3 lakh consumers.

The GMC's assertion and claims have come after the corporation faced flakes for allegedly failing to provide drinking water daily at city's prime localities. New pumps procured by the GMC to draw water from the Brahmaputra River have developed technical snags and resulted in drinking water scarcity in prime localities, including Chandmari, Silpukhuri, several parts of GNR Road and Nabagraha.

GMC Commissioner Debajyoti Hazarika said that he, along with engineers and technical experts, recently inspected the Pan Bazar and Satpukhuri water treatment plants and tried to inquire the problem. He said one third of machinery at the treatment plants were installed newly. He admitted that there was a temporary drinking water crisis after two new pumps at Satpukhuri water treatment plant developed technical snags.

Hazarika, however, said an alternative arrangement was made at Satpukhuri water treatment plant to restore water supply. He said the GMC has already contacted engineers and technical experts of the company which supplied the pumps and other machineries. The company will send its experts to repair the pumps, he said.

The commissioner said while three mega projects are being executed to provide round-the-clock drinking water to city residents, the GMC is currently supplying about 450 lakh litres water (daily) to its 3 lakh consumers from Pan Bazar, Satpukhuri and Kamakhya water treatment plants.

Residents of prime localities have rejected the GMC's claim and say they are spending a huge amount of money to purchase drinking water from private suppliers since the corporation has failed to provide the same. "I have been purchasing water daily from private suppliers. For more than a month pipes of almost every household in my locality are running dry. We are paying water tax to the GMC and the civic body has no accountability to taxpayers," a resident of Chandmari alleged.

The present requirement of water for over 10 lakh population in the city is about 132 million litres of water per day (MLD) against which the government agencies are supplying only 79 MLD, the source said. The city's daily drinking water requirement will go up to 350 MLD by 2025.