Protests erupt in West Bengal’s Siliguri over contaminated drinking water supply by civic body

Protests erupt in Siliguri over contaminated water crisis, Mayor announces unfit water supply, prompting distribution of water pouches.

Protests have erupted in West Bengal’s Siliguri town in the wake of an unprecedented scarcity of drinking water, with the civic body announcing that the water supplied is unfit for drinking. Gautam Deb, Mayor of the Trinamool-run Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC), had on Wednesday announced that as the Irrigation Department was carrying maintenance work at the Teesta canal, the civic body is drawing water from Mahananda river to its treatment plant in Fulbari. This water is high in BOD (biochemical oxygen demand) and harmful for regular consumption, he said.

“Maintenance work by the State irrigation department on the Teesta river bank will continue till June 1. I request everyone to not drink the water that is being supplied by the Municipal Corporation till June 2. It can, however, be used for other purposes. Until then, the municipal corporation will distribute water pouches for drinking purposes through the boroughs,” Mr. Deb said.

Siliguri, located in the Darjeeling district near the State’s northern border at the foothills of the Himalayas, is one of the most-populated cities in West Bengal.

Members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Darjeeling wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Socialist Unity Centre of India-Communist (SUCI-C) carried out separate protest marches and sit-in demonstrations on Thursday and Friday, demanding the resignation of the Mayor and accusing the civic body of supplying contaminated water to residents.

“The Honourable Mayor of Siliguri Municipal Corporation made the people of Siliguri drink contaminated water for the last 20 days because of his inefficiency,” local BJP leader Shankar Ghosh posted on X.

CPI(M) leader and former Siliguri Mayor Asok Bhattacharya demanded an explanation as to why the civic body had initially assured residents that water being drawn from the Mahananda river is safe for drinking, adding that this “betrayal” should be dealt with sternly. “Supplying contaminated water to people is a crime that warrants punishment,” he said.

To mitigate the crisis, the civic body has been distributing 1 lakh water pouches in the town every day. As of Friday, the number of water pouches being distributed was increased to 2 lakh a day.