Households in seven blocks in Salt Lake — CD, CC, AC, AD, BC, BD and DD — will have to do with a reduced supply of water till January 11 because of the repair and maintenance of tank number 3.
Officials at the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) said the pressure of
the water supplied to the seven blocks has fallen because of the overhaul of tank
3, which started on Thursday and will continue till January 11.
The water pressure also remained poor throughout most of Thursday in parts of five blocks, including AC, FF, GE, and GB, because of maintenance of tank number 12, BMC officials said.
These five blocks won’t be affected from Friday, the officials said.
“The condition of the interiors of some of the overhead tanks in Salt Lake, including tanks 3, 7, 10 and 11, is deplorable. Apart from civil work, we have to do mechanical retro-fittings to protect the structures,” said Tulsi Sinha Roy, the mayoral council member in charge of the water supply department at the BMC.
“Maintenance of the water tanks has become a challenge because of decades of neglect.”
A section of engineers said concrete chunks had peeled off in the interiors of some of the overhead tanks exposing iron casings.
In several reservoirs, iron rods have corroded beyond repair. Pumps and electrical circuits have been replaced in many water tanks as they had worn out through years of use, the engineers said.
The majority of the water tanks require concrete jacketing to ensure they have the strength to store water, the engineers said.
“The pump and the electrical fittings of tank number 8 have been replaced. The result is showing. Against three hours earlier, it now takes around 1.4 hours to fill the tank,” Tulsi said.
“I appeal to all residents of Salt Lake to please bear with us so that we can ensure that the overhead tanks survive the next three decades.”
Fifteen water tanks in Salt Lake, the oldest landmarks often used by visitors to navigate their way through the township, are undergoing an overhaul.
The estimated cost of the project is over Rs 29 crore, an official said.
Most of these tanks are now in disrepair. Paint coming off, their numbers barely visible, the tanks are a picture of neglect.
Each tank’s capacity is 1.2 lakh gallon, and together they supply water to over 26,000 households in the planned areas as well as commercial establishments, hospitals and offices in Salt Lake.
Salt Lake needs around 15 million gallons of water every day. The New Town water treatment plant supplies 10-12 million gallons and the rest comes from the Tallah-Palta network.
The water from the New Town plant is stored in the 15 water tanks and two underground reservoirs on the premises of tank numbers 13 and 5.
The stored water is supplied across Salt Lake, a BMC engineer said.
“We want to wrap up a major chunk of the work by January so residents don’t have to worry about water once winter recedes,” Tulsi said.