www.telegraphindia.com

Kalimpong, March 19: The state municipal affairs department has handed over Rs 1 crore to Kalimpong Municipality for the upgrade of the water distribution system here.

Municipality chairman C.K. Kumai said the money was released on the basis of a project report prepared by the public health engineering department in 2001. The report had estimated the cost of overhauling the antiquated distribution network at Rs 3.8 crore, he added.

The chairman said the state government would release the remaining amount in phases, depending on the progress of work. “The plan is to lay an additional supply pipeline from the Deolo reservoir, besides constructing about four to five storage tanks at various points,”
he added.

The work on the project will be executed by the municipal engineering directorate, which has its headquarters in Calcutta. “The municipal directorate will soon prepare a work plan in consultation with the water works department of the DGHC (which oversees the distribution of water from the Deolo reservoir),” said Kumai.

Overhauling the water distribution network has been a long standing demand among residents of the hill town. They hold the outdated distribution system, full of leaks and illegal connections, responsible for the scarcity that grips the town even during the rainy season.

In reply to the allegations, Kumai said: “I am confident that once the distribution system is modernised, the problem of water scarcity will reduce and transmission losses will be brought under control.”