‘No water connection to kiosks unless maintenance pact inked by firms for 5 yrs’

kolkata: In a bid to ensure that roadside drinking water kiosks do not become a health hazard for the public due to lack of maintenance, Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s (KMC) Mayor Firhad Hakim has said that the civic body will not give water connection to any new kiosks set up by private companies unless they first sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) towards the maintenance of the kiosk for five years.

In this peak of summer, roadside water kiosks that supply cold water bring relief to many parched throats. However, most of these water kiosks, as pointed out by the KMC from time to time, remain ill-maintained.

Filters remain unchanged over the years. The civic body has raised concerns that due to lack of maintenance, the water may not be fit for drinking.

During KMC’s monthly House meeting on Friday, a TMC councillor Aroop Chakraborty proposed that KMC take charge of the maintenance of these drinking water kiosks, most of which remain ill-maintained.

The Mayor responding to it clarified that all such water kiosks are set up by private companies to advertise their brand names.

These are mostly installed in KMC wards as personal initiatives of the councillor in collaboration with private companies.

“I have repeatedly said that this cannot go on. The lack of maintenance of the water kiosks makes the water unfit for drinking. This has to be stopped. I have asked the Director General of the water department to stop giving water connections to any new kiosks unless the private company concerned signs an MoU with KMC, taking responsibility for the maintenance of such a facility for five years” Hakim clarified.

The Mayor also added that councillors also need to be vigilant.

“If councillors find out that the water kiosk in their ward is lying without any maintenance, then he/she must write to the DG of the water department following which we will either find an interested party who will take the responsibility of cleaning it or KMC will take charge of the kiosk, in which case the branding of the private company will be removed,” the Mayor said.