Bengal launches helpline to report problems about tap water supply

Kolkata: The state Public Health & Engineering (PHE) department has floated two helpline numbers where people can Whatsapp and report any problem related to the supply of tap water.

Bengal has already achieved a new milestone this month by reaching over 50 lakh rural households with potable drinking water through tap water connections under the Jal Swapno project. The two helpline numbers that have been floated are 8902022222 and 8902066666.

"Once people report their problem, the matter will be taken up at the appropriate level so that the issue can be addressed at the earliest," a senior official of the PHE department said.

The state Public Health Engineering (PHE ) department is working on a mission mode to ensure tap water connection to 1 crore 77 lakh families under the Jal Swapno project by the end of 2024. The project kicked off in July 2020.

Till the first week of November, Nadia was provided the highest number of connections to the tune of nearly 6.63 lakh followed by Murshidabad with over 5.12 lakh and East Burdwan with over 4.07 lakhs water connections.

The Mamata Banerjee government already achieved a major milestone by becoming the top state in the country in providing tap water connections to households in the financial year 2021- 22.

Bengal had provided over 23.37 lakh connections in the last fiscal, well ahead of the second and third-rankers Odisha and Bihar which provided 17.47 lakh and 17.39 lakh connections respectively. BJP-ruled Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh were far behind, providing over 9.51 and 6.57 lakh connections respectively. Apart from implementing the Jal Swapno project on a war footing, the state government emphasised on the water testing infrastructure.

"In 2011, there were 128 such centres and none of them had NABL accreditation. Presently, there are 220 centres among which 144 are NABL accredited which is the highest in India.

Several Asha workers have been engaged in collecting samples of water for testing from households where water connections have been provided. Many of them have been given test kits for testing water quality. District Project Monitoring Unit (DPMU ) and Implementation Support Agency (ISA) have been engaged in all districts for awareness regarding drinking water.

Agencies engaged as valve operators, pump operators etc are being selected in a manner so that they get facilities of provident fund, ESI etc.