Guwahati Municipal Corporation fails to restore water supply, private players hike rates

GUWAHATI: Unscrupulous private water suppliers in Guwahati have hiked the rates by over 200% leaving consumers with no option as the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) has failed to resume supply of household tap water even after three weeks of disruption.
GMC water supply has remained suspended from June 15 after a major landslide partially damaged the water reservoir located atop the Navagraha hill and the pumping line through which water is pumped in from the British-era Satpukhuri water treatment plant to the reservoir.
The water crisis has compelled families living in the Chitrachal hill, Navagraha hill and its surrounding areas, where there are no motorable roads, to depend either on streams or pits, where water drips from the hill, for their daily needs.
Residents in the areas with motorable roads have complained that the unscrupulous private water suppliers have taken advantage of the situation and hiked the rates of water. “I have purchased 1,300 litres of water for Rs 1,800. They charge Rs 1,400 for 1,000 liters. The price is very high; but we have no other option than to buy. It’s been around 20 days we have not received tap water. We heard from GMC that it would take a couple of weeks more to resume the water supply,” said Usha Saikia of Nizarapar.
Meanwhile, a GMC official said the progress of restoration work was satisfactory and the service would be resumed soon. “We have to raise 36 pillars to support the main pipeline, through which water is pumped into the reservoir which was damaged by the landslide during the incessant rain in June. Moreover, repair of the reservoir has also progressed satisfactorily. The reservoir had several leakages which resulted in waste of several thousand liters of water every day,” the official said.
Disruption in water supply has hit a large part of the city, including Chandmari, Silpukhuri, Uzanbazar, Milanpur, Piyoli Phukan Nagar, Kharghuli, Krishna Nagar and Rudranagar.
It may be mentioned that the Satpukhuri water treatment plant was commissioned in 1930, the oldest WTP in the city, and was renovated in 1984. The plant, which has a capacity of producing 22.5 million litres of water per day (MLD), lost its engineering life about 30 years ago.
The GMC is waiting for the completion of the JICA-funded South Central Guwahati water project with a capacity of 191 million litres per day, which was started in 2011.