BALURGHAT, April 6 -- The South Dinajpur district administration has expressed deep concern over the worsening water crisis in Tapan and several other blocks. In a bid to address the issue, a high-level meeting was held on Friday evening at the South Dinajpur District Administrative Building, attended by State Minister for Consumer Affairs Biplab Mitra.

The meeting focused on the long-pending piped drinking water project for Tapan, initiated a few years ago. It was decided that the project would be completed within the next six months. Meanwhile, the administration has proposed three temporary solutions to alleviate the ongoing crisis.

Apart from Minister Mitra, the meeting was attended by District Magistrate (DM) Bijin Krishna, Block Development Officers from all eight blocks, Panchayat Samiti chairpersons, members of the Zilla Parishad, officials from the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) and other senior district officials. Detailed reports on the water crisis were collected from each block, with special emphasis on the alarming situation in Tapan.

"Tapan has long suffered from water scarcity. The state government took up a project to address this by supplying purified water to households through pipelines from the Punarbhaba River. The project is 54 per cent complete and road construction has slightly delayed its progress. Our goal is to finish the work within six months," the minister stated.

The DM said that water scarcity is also prevalent in parts of Harirampur and Kushmandi blocks. "Three temporary measures are being implemented. Firstly, in areas where PHED pipelines exist, tap connections will be arranged. Secondly, submersible pumps will be installed. Finally, water tankers will be deployed to the worst-affected areas. The roles of Panchayat Samitis and the Zilla Parishad in these initiatives are also being considered," he said.

According to the DM, the administration is hopeful that these measures will bring relief to the affected residents until a long-term solution is in place.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.