GUWAHATI, Aug 7 - The Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) has failed to resume normal water supply even after repair of the damaged water pump at the Satpukhuri Water Supply Treatment Plant.
The water woes of the residents of Kharghuli, Chandmari, Chandmari Colony, Noonmati, Silpukhuri and surrounding areas began soon after one of the water pumps at the Satpukhuri Water Supply Treatment Plant got damaged in March this year. The situation is yet to improve even though the damaged pump has been repaired.
An official of GMC said that the water pump was repaired recently and normal water supply from the plant restored. The corporation had brought an expert from Kolkata to repair the damaged water pump.
Residents of Housing Colony, Krishna Nagar, Nizarapar and Nabagiri among other areas are still getting drinking water only once in five days and that too, for a few minutes.
While officials of the GMC are continuously claiming that the affected areas have been covered with water tankers, the ground reality is just the opposite. Only a fraction of the residents of the affected areas are getting the facility, that too, on alternate days.
Hari Shankar, a resident of Krishna Nagar area said, �We have not received piped water for 12 days. We are purchasing water from private parties.�
When contacted, GMC Commissioner Devajyoti Hazarika refrained from making any comments citing �politics� as the reason.
Former mayor of GMC Mrigen Sarania, former deputy mayor Balendra Bharali and former councillor of ward number 4 Shyamal Kumar Chakraborty had asked for an inquiry immediately after the pump was damaged. They raised questions regarding the quality of the newly purchased pumps after those became non-functional within a few days of being commissioned.
�Most of the pump sets of Satpukhuri plant have remained non-functional since March due to which the residents are facing an acute water crisis. This raises a serious doubt in the minds of the public about the quality and standard of the machines supplied, installed and commissioned by the supplier,� Balendra Bharali said.
Around Rs 4.43 crore was sanctioned in 2018 for supply, installation, testing and commissioning of pump sets under the Panbazar, Satpukhuri, Kamakhya and deep tubewell schemes along with the boosting station under GMC water works.
