The Garden Reach waterworks will produce 25 million gallons of additional water from next summer, mayor Firhad Hakim said on Saturday, raising hopes of an end to water woes in some pockets in the south.

Parts of Behala and Tollygunge will benefit the most, a Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC) official said. These places now depend on undergroundwater that carries the risk of health hazard.

At the monthly meeting of councillors, Hakim said he expected the additional water to reach homes by March. “We are expecting the augmentation work to be over before summer.”

The Garden Reach waterworks is the backbone of the water supply network in the south and on the southern outskirts.

Gariahat, Dhakuria, Jodhpur Park, Behala, parts of Tollygunge, Deshapriya Park, Garden Reach and parts of Bhowanipore receive potable water from the Garden Reach waterworks daily.

The water treatment plant at Garden Reach produces 185 million gallons of water every day. “The total production will rise to 210 million gallons once the augmentation is complete,” the CMC official said.

Once the extra supply starts, the CMC will stop the use of tube wells that now extract groundwater and supply to areas with water scarcity.

The CMC has decided to increase the production capacity in Dhapa and build a new water treatment plant at Garia’s Briji.

Parts of Jadavpur, Kasba and Mukundapur and pockets of Garia and Tollygunge will receive potable water as a result, the official said.