The Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) has formally requested Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to inaugurate the alternative intake well-established at the water treatment plant in Fulbari. On Monday, the Chief Minister will arrive for a four-day visit to north Bengal, during which she will proceed to the hills before returning to Siliguri on November 14. Several official events have been scheduled throughout her visit to the hills. The Trinamool Congress-run SMC’s mayor-in-council (water & health), Dulal Dutta, stated that Mayor Gautam Deb has asked the chief minister to open the intake well via the Darjeeling district government.
The chief minister will go to a few formal functions. She has been asked by the mayor to launch the intake properly at these occasions,” Dutta stated. According to him, the newly constructed intake well, which cost ₹6.9 crore, was prepared for use. The current intake well is outdated and frequently requires repair, particularly during the monsoon season when silt accumulates there. The city’s water supply would eventually be disrupted. The project, which is expected to cost ₹511 crore, was undertaken under the national government’s Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (Amrut 2.0) plan. The project would cost around 204 crore in its initial phase. Water would be extracted from the Teesta river near Gajoldoba in the Jalpaiguri district, as per the proposal.
