‘Drinking water connections to be provided to all houses in next 2 months’

BALURGHAT: In a major initiative by the Public Health Engineering (PHE) department, drinking water connections will be provided to all households across the 11 Panchayats in Tapan Block of South Dinajpur within the next two months. The plan involves setting up reservoirs at various locations and purifying water from the Punarbhaba River, which will be supplied through two projects in Kardaha and Sutail.

According to PHE sources, installation work for the reservoirs has already commenced in several areas of the block, aiming to make water accessible to all. Notably, Tapan has long faced an acute shortage of drinking water.

To address this, a budget of Rs 250 crore was allocated for this project back in 2014-15. Initial work began with a project in Kardaha under Ramchandrapur Gram Panchayat. In 2021-22, a larger project was initiated in Sutail under Rampara Chenchra Gram Panchayat.

However, reports indicate that most households are still waiting for water service connections.

The delay has become a source of frustration for local residents, as it has been nearly nine years since the project began and many are still without reliable drinking water.

Tapan Block is prone to drought and the lack of water becomes severe during summer months. Despite the two major projects in place, progress has been slow, intensifying dissatisfaction among the residents. Abdul Malek, a resident of Harsura, expressed his discontent: “We’ve been hearing about the drinking water project for years, yet pipelines haven’t

reached our area.”

The PHE department reports that 80 per cent of the households in the Kardaha area are already connected to drinking water and connections from the Sutail project are expected to begin within a month. Recently, PHE district officer Shubhabrata Kar inspected a reservoir near the Radhagobinda

Temple in Tapan.

He assured: “By 2025, drinking water services will reach 50,000 households in the block. So far, 13,000 homes have received connections. We have begun testing the reservoirs to ensure they are working properly, starting with the Manoholi reservoir. Gradually, all reservoirs will be operational to deliver water to every household.”