The Mirik municipality will execute a Rs 199 crore project that will be jointly funded by central and state governments under the AMRUT 2.0 (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) scheme to supply drinking water to the residents of the town in the Darjeeling hills.

"Over 4,200 families in the civic area will benefit from the project. Tasks like laying pipes and constructing reservoirs will start next month,” said L.B. Rai, the chairperson of the board of administrator (BoA) at the Mirik municipality.

Mirik has nine civic wards and is the smallest municipality in the hills. There has been a long-standing demand from the residents for the drinking water supply.

According to the plan, sources said, water would be drawn from the Rambhang river, which is around 5km from the hill town. Water would then be treated and sent to reservoirs from where a network of pipelines will carry the water to households.

“The project will be executed under the supervision of the state public health engineering department. The tender process has finished and the work will commence soon,” said a source.

Located around 50km from Siliguri, Mirik is a popular tourist destination and boasts the Sumendu lake. The town is surrounded by tea and orange plantations.

Along with the drinking water project, the civic body will spend Rs one crore on installing street lights in the town, including the areas surrounding the lake.

“We will also spend a sum of Rs 3 crore to develop several stretches of roads measuring around 10km,” said Rai.

In 2017, the Trinamul Congress won the polls to the Mirik municipality. With the expiry of Trinamul's term, the BoA constituted by the Bengal government runs the municipality.