Measures to contain the flash flood in the Teesta river on October 4 in Sikkim and parts of north Bengal have hit drinking water supply in the Siliguri Municipal Corporation area.

There is less water in a canal of the Teesta from where water is drawn into the treatment plant. Silt and rubble have deposited in the intake well through which water is drawn. Residents across 47 wards have had to bear the brunt of erratic water supply since Friday.

Sources said due to the sudden surge in water levels of the Teesta after the flash flood, the state irrigation department locked the gates at the merging point of the river and the Teesta-Mahananda link canal. Through this canal, water from the Teesta is channelled from Gajoldoba, around 25km from here. This led to the paucity of water in the canal.

At Fulbari, on the southern outskirts of Siliguri, water is drawn into the treatment plant through the intake well.

“As gates were closed, the canal did not have adequate water. That is why over the past couple of days, the amount of water we needed didn’t reach the intake well, and thus, less quantity of water was purified at the treatment plant. Supply turned irregular across the city since Friday,” said a source in the SMC.

From the treatment plant, water is routed to the reservoirs located in different locations of Siliguri through a distribution network of pipes.

Due to shortage of water, silt and rubble were deposited in the intake well, which further affected water supply.

“Engineers from the state PHE department have reached here from Calcutta to clean the intake well and ensure that the maximum possible amount of water is treated at the plant and supplied in the city. During festive days, demand for water goes up,” said Dulal Dutta, the SMS member mayor-in-council (water supply).

Irrigation authorities, he said, have been asked to ensure adequate water in the canal.

The civic area, sources said, needs 100 MLD (million litres per day) of water. However, the existing infrastructure, set up over two decades back, can supply hardly half of it.

New building

The Trinamul-led civic board in Siliguri Municipal Corporation will formally open its new administrative building at the start of 2024, also the platinum jubilee year of the civic body (formerly Siliguri municipality).

On Saturday, mayor Gautam Deb informally opened a part of the new building on the same premises.

“We informally opened portions of the new administrative building today. The new five-storey structure will be ready by next year when we celebrate the 75th year of the civic body,” said Deb.

Sources said the new building has around 5,000sqft on each floor, with separate chambers of the mayor, chairman, members, mayor-in-council and councillors, along with a conference hall.

“Considering the rate of urbanisation and population growth in Siliguri, the existing building is inadequate for the volume of work done.... That is why the new building was planned. Once ready, a number of sections and chambers will be shifted here and additional space will be available in the old building,” a source said.

“It will also have an archive and a citizens’ corner,” said the mayor.

Civic authorities plan to get the new building inaugurated by chief minister Mamata Banerjee.