KMC tightens checks on city’s water supply

Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is learnt to have placed all major water installations in the city on high alert and ordered stricter laboratory testing of raw water before it is sent to treatment plants, following the recent death of 10 people in Indore after consuming drinking water contaminated with sewage.

According to KMC sources, the directive covers enhanced testing of raw water undergoing filtration at the Palta water treatment plant. Similar special laboratory tests will be carried out at the Garden Reach, Dhapa, Jorabagan and Watgunge water treatment plants to ensure that prescribed purity standards are strictly maintained.

KMC has also instructed officials in charge of water booster pumping stations across the city to intensify monitoring of drinking water quality after it leaves treatment plants and travels through pipelines to local distribution points.

Officials said such checks are crucial as water can get contaminated en route due to cracks or leakages in ageing pipelines, or when water lines run close to sewage pipes.

“If any discrepancy in water quality is detected at booster pumping stations, immediate corrective steps will be taken to ensure safe supply,” a KMC water supply department official said. These measures may include additional purification and increasing the level of residual chlorine before water reaches households.

The civic body has also decided to keep heightened vigilance in areas with a past history of water-borne disease outbreaks. KMC sources said belts such as Kankurgachhi–Maniktala, Park Circus, Bhowanipore and the Tollygunge–Jadavpur area will be closely monitored. Special attention will also be given to tube-well zones, where maintaining groundwater quality can pose challenges.

Officials stressed that the steps are preventive in nature and aimed at ensuring that Kolkata’s drinking water remains safe amid heightened concerns over contamination.