Mayor Gautam Deb on Friday launched a project under which water would be pumped from the Teesta for distribution in the Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) area.

The SMC supplies around 50 million litres of water daily from the treatment plant in Fulbari near Siliguri. But the supply meets just half of the demand.

“The drinking water project will be executed in phases. Today, we formally initiated the work of the first phase in which pipes will be laid from Gajoldoba to carry water from the Teesta to the treatment plant,” said Deb.

Gajoldoba, where the Teesta barrage is located, is around 30km from here and is in Jalpaiguri district. Currently, water is drawn from a canal of the river for the city’s supply. Once the project is executed, water will be pumped directly from the Teesta to meet the demand of the civic population.

The project, sources said, has been taken under the Amrut 2.0 (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) with an estimated cost of ₹511 crore.

In the first phase, ₹204 crore will be spent and pipes will be laid for 28km. An intake well (where water will be stored) and a power substation will also be built at Fulbari in the first phase.

“Once the water project is complete, we will be able to distribute 135 million litres of water per day in the civic area (divided into 47 wards). We plan to ready the project by December 2025. We are also building an alternative intake well in Fulbari as an interim measure and it will be ready before Durga Puja,” the mayor added.

Dulal Dutta, the member, mayor-in-council (water) of SMC, said the pipelines would move through different stretches of Rajganj block and a portion of the Baikunthapur forest in Jalpaiguri district.