Frequent power cuts have disrupted the schedule of some booster pumping stations of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and affected the water supply in their command zones quite a few times in the past fortnight, officials of the civic body said.
In the middle of a long stretch of extreme heat and high temperatures, this adds to the woes of residents who fail to stock up on water if the supply is disrupted.
The KMC has given standing instructions to its staff running the booster pumping stations to compensate for the loss in power supply. The employees have been told to run the pumps after the power supply is restored so adequate water reaches homes.
“In some cases, the power cut happened during our supply hours. We had to run the pumps again when power was restored even if that meant supplying beyond usual hours. We will follow this whenever there are power cuts during supply hours,” said a KMC engineer.
Despite this, many residents may not be aware of the delayed supply and might fail to stock up on water.
KMC engineers said the risk of water supply being disrupted because of power cuts is higher in Behala, Jadavpur and Kasba, which have many “capsule” booster pumping stations. Capsule booster pumping stations serve a small command zone and the capacity of reservoirs attached to the stations are of relatively low capacity.
Larger booster pumping stations like the ones in Mohammad Ali Park and Auckland Square have dedicated power supply lines and there is rarely any interruption in electricity supply.
Smaller booster pumping stations suffer if the power supply is interrupted.
“In this ongoing phase of extreme heat and temperature, we faced problems in at least two booster pumping stations in Behala and Tollygunge. The water supply was disrupted at the station in Taramoyee Ghat in Tollygunge Karunamoyee and in Behala’s Barisha,” said a KMC engineer.
“Power supply to booster pumping stations in Barisha and Kasba was interrupted because of unsanctioned overloading in the neighbourhood. We sent our team and restored the supply to the pumping stations,” said Avijit Ghosh, executive director (distribution), CESC.
Ratna Sur, councillor of Ward 115 in Tollygunge, said places like Taramoyee Ghat Road and Karunamoyee Ghat Road have suffered power cuts a few times in the last fortnight.
“Power supply was cut a few times. CESC has taken prompt measures and installed a generator to cope with the problem,” she said.
Atanu Mitra, a resident of Sakherbazar in Barisha, said there have been multiple power cuts in the neighbourhood over the last fortnight. “On Sunday, there was no power supply for about three hours in the afternoon,” he said.
There are about 40 “capsule” booster pumping stations and 32 of these were built in the last two to three years to address water crisis in pockets like Behala, Jadavpur, Tollygunge and Kasba.
The Telegraph reported on Monday that the demand for water tankers has risen at least one-and-a-half times in the ongoing phase of extreme heat.
Tankers of 3,600-litre capacity are sent to water-scarce pockets or if there is a complaint of water shortage.