People feel the pinch of water crisis, government promises regular supply

By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, January 23: Acute shortage of potable water in many areas in Guwahati make people really feel the pinch. In fact, one of the failures of the GMC and the GMDA is writ large upon the scene of supply of potable water in Guwahati.

In such a backdrop, the state government has come with fresh promises to make potable water available to every household round the clock. The Nizoraban area under Dhirenpara is one of the areas in the city that is badly affected by lack of drinking water.

At a meeting organized by the Guwahati Water Supply Project, in association with Nizoraban Milan Sangha on Thursday, the project officials informed the residents of the area that all lanes and by lanes of Guwahati Metropolitan area would have 24X7 hours potable water supplies with adequate pressure.

The Assam Government, according to the officials, has taken this initiative to eradicate the day–to–day drinking water related problems of Guwahatians. Now Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) is implementing the Guwahati Water Supply Project. “After completion of the project, it will be maintained by the Guwahati Jal Board, which is under the state Government,” the officials said at the meeting.

A documentary on the project was also shown at the beginning of the meeting and a project team member described the details of the project through a power–point presentation.

The project engineer present at the meeting assured the public that pipeline will be laid in all the areas, where it has not been done yet. People also queried regarding project completion schedule, water meter, monthly user fee etc. The project officials responded to all the queries.

The officials informed the public that they could call to the project customer care centre number 1800–345–3615 (toll free) on all working days between l0 am to 5 pm to get any information regarding the project or to lodge their complaints. People can also log on to www.guwahatialboard.gov.in, the GJB website for further information of the project.

Nowadays, the problem of scarcity of potable water has been chronic. The problem has been complicated due to rapid rise in population in the city. The number of families staying on rent is also increasing very rapidly, and that adds to the problem of water crisis. Some families that rent houses have only one connection of water supply each with which they have to provide water to each of their tents.

Nowadays, some privately–owned tempos are seen carrying water for supply to households. This is fraught with the risk of increasing water–borne diseases as the sources from where they collect the water for supply may not be safe.