KOLKATA: Three days have passed since a Kolkata Municipal Corporation
(KMC) laboratory conclusively proved presence of arsenic at three
places on Anwar Shah Road and Ghulam Mohammed Shah Road, but the civic
body is yet to take any action to provide safe drinking water to the
residents of these areas.

A separate report by the West Bengal
Pollution Control Board (WBPCB) has also been published and the
findings corroborated by the State Water Investigation Directorate
(SWID), but it was only on Monday that Vishal Rai – a resident of Ghulam
Mohammed Shah Road next to Ashalata Apartment – got to know of the
menace.

Alarmed that the deep tubewell water he is used to
drinking spews arsenic, the student of Maulana Azad College said, “Now I
will have to buy water as ground water is no longer safe in this
locality.”

Earlier, a KMC water supply team had visited went to
some of the areas in Anwar Shah and Ghulam Mohammed Shah Road and sealed
three tubewells where traces of arsenic were found beyond permissible
limit by the civic body.

Vishal Rai, a resident of Ghulam
Mohammed Shah Road next to Ashalata apartment had no idea that high
traces of arsenic have been found from deep tubewell of the apartment.
Rai, a student of Maulana Azad College now feels extremely worried over
such finding. “Now I will have to buy water. Ground water is no longer
safe in this locality,” Rai said on Monday. Three days have passed since
a Kolkata Municipal Corporation laboratory conclusively proved presence
of arsenic at three places in Anwar Shah Road and Ghulam Mohammed Shah
Road including Ashalata Apartment along with a separate report from West
Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB), no action has been taken by the
civic body to provide safe drinking water to residents of these areas. A
KMC water supply team went to some of the areas in Anwar Shah and
Ghulam Mohammed Shah Road and sealed three tubewells where traces of
arsenic were found beyond permissible limit by the civic body and a
separate report of State Water Investigation Directorate (SWID) also
corroborated the civic finding.

However, residents of Inmates of
Ashalata apartment have hardly any other option, left but to drink the
contaminated water since the potable water supply to these areas from
Garden Reach is grossly insufficient. This is the reason why the people
of the apartment are opposed to sealing of tubewells in the area
connection.

“We may have to continue drinking this water since
the only other option left is to buy drinking water re are no options
left for us other than buying water. Though we have a parallel surface
water connection, we hardly get water,” said S C Mukherjee, a retired
central government employee and a resident of the apartment. Another
resident Bandana Auddy , another inmate of the apartment made it clear
that unless the civic body supplies additional surface water from Garden
Reach, they could do nothing but would have to depend on the tubewell
water.

“We are yet to decide how to react to the what to do with
this findings (traces of arsenic). The civic authorities must enhance
its water supply before they plan to seal
the tubewellswant us to close down the tubewell,” she said. Tarak
Singh, the member, mayor-in-council overseeing the KMC ground water,
said a notice has been sent to the secretary of Ashalata Apartment to
immediately seal asking him to close down the tubewell.

The
residents of the apartment Inmates of Ashalata Apartment are not the
only ones who were completely unaware of the fact and have been landed
in trouble after the civic body confirmed presence of arsenic in the
ground water in large stretches of the area.

Take the case of
Sandip Mishra, a youth who stays on Ghulam Mohammed Shah Road. It was
only after a KMC water supply team came to seal a roadside tubewell near
Padatik club on Monday that Mishra got to know about the arsenic
contamination of ground water in the area. “Now that the corporation has
sealed the tubewell, it will be an uphill task for us to fetch drinking
water,” Mishra said.

Apart from sealing down deep tubewells
which was sunk just two months ago, the KMC team also sealed a hand
tubewell in the area near Shantiniketan housing apartment. Similarly,
the KMC team has sealed another tubewell at Biswaspara off Lake Gardens
flyover.

Rani Begum, a local resident, among others was waiting
near a roadside tap on Monday afternoon to fetch water when the KMC team
sealed the tubewell. “I have no idea why the only tubewell in our
locality has been sealed. If there is contamination in the ground water,
the KMC must arrange for alternative water supply,” Begum said.