Domestic water project to be sped up in Malda

Statesman News Service

MALDA, June 11: After inaugurating two river based drinking water projects in the arsenic contaminated areas of Malda district yesterday, Mr Goutam Deb, minister for public health engineering, has instructed departmental engineers to expedite house to house water connections to run the projects smoothly. The object of this project is to provide drinking water to all and to earn a part of its maintenance cost from the consumers on regular basis.The Malda PHE has decided to provide such drinking water through pipeline to 70 per cent families of the area from this month onward. The executive engineer Malda PHE (Arsenic division) Mr AK Das said: “The Balupur surface water treatment project has been completed. We have already started distribution of drinking water through street taps free of cost”.According to the direction of the PHE minister, we have targeted to bring at least 3,000 households under the Balupur surface water treatment project in arsenic afflicted Ratua block where more than 75,000 people will be benefited.It was also decided that interested consumers would apply to the block development officer for house connection and PHE officials will provide water connection at their doors. The consumers will have to pay a nominal charge only to get this connection started.Yesterday, the PHE department officially inaugurated two such projects at Balupur in Ratua and Mahadipur in English Bazaar. The officials claimed that more than 1,00,000 people will be getting purified water from these two projects. “The state and the Central governments has spent more than Rs 32 cores for these two projects and PHE will have to bear its maintenance cost to run the project”, said a PHE engineer.