A water treatment plant will be functional before the summer of 2026 near the Dhalai Bridge in Garia, mayor Firhad Hakim said on Friday. The construction of the plant is on.

Residents of large parts of southeast Calcutta like Garia, Santoshpur and Jadavpur face acute drinking water shortages during summer. Many households are dependent on underground water. They will start receiving potable water after the treatment plant becomes functional.

The plant will produce 10 million gallons of potable water daily to ease the crisis in areas where water from the Garden Reach and Dhapa water treatment plants do not reach. The two water treatment plants meet the bulk of the potable water requirement in south and southeast Calcutta.

KMC officials said the potable water from these two plants is consumed by households that come first in the distribution line, while the homes that come later receive an inadequate volume or are completely dependent on groundwater extracted through pumps.

“The plant will be ready before the summer of 2026. You have waited for so long, please wait for two more years,” Hakim told a woman, a resident of Ward 104 in Jadavpur, who complained to the mayor during the weekly phone-in programme “Talk to Mayor” about the unavailability of potable water in their housing complex.

After the call, Hakim asked two senior engineers responsible for executing the project to conduct monthly review meetings so work is finished on time.

“People should not say that the mayor lied. Conduct monthly review meetings and keep me updated,” Hakim said.

The water treatment plant is being constructed on a 4-acre plot along the road that connects Garia Dhalai bridge and the Kamalgazi flyover.

“The work to build the treatment plant will cost ₹78 crore. That apart, new pipelines have to be laid,” said an official.

More than 10 wards in the Tollygunge and Jadavpur assembly constituencies — including Wards 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 104, 112, 113 and 114 — face a potable water crisis. These areas will benefit after the plant becomes functional.

The affected areas include Bijoygarh, Baghajatin, Garia, Patuli, Naktala and Bansdroni.

“We will procure raw water from Bhootghat in Garden Reach,” said Hakim.

There are over 350 deep tube wells in the city and more than 80 per cent of these are in the water-scarce pockets of Tollygunge and Jadavpur, said a KMC official.

The Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority handed the plot for the water treatment plant to the KMC in 2019. The pandemic delayed the project.