buildings sprouting along bothsides of the busy road housing equally many illuminating, specious, gorgeous commercial establishments from furniture houses, big shopping malls, ATM counters, big hotels, restaurants offering sumptuous food, attractive garment shops and so on. Arguably, it is truly so,and the city’s economy will become stronger if the historic Stilwell road at Ledu in Assam is reopened in the future. This will enable Guwahati to evolve into a major destination for trade and commerce in the South East region of Asia.

There is sans doubt that the visitor, if he is from a small town, will be highly impressed by the evening’s view of Guwahati. However, it is on one side of the tale of the city heart – warming. The other side is one of despondency pertaining to the still – unaddressed serious civic problems afflicting a vast majority of the residents of this thickly – populated capital city. Among these problems, the most serious, is the potable water crisis which is making life miserable for this whole lot. They have long since been experiencing this kind of problem but it is unfortunate that there is, so far, no sign till date, on the horizon of this being tackled in the immediate future as the government is understandably unmindful of the imperative need for an effective water supply network to surmount the citizens’ water woes. We often hear it promising of doing this or that in a given period for issues less serious and less complex than the water crisis is. Still, it maintains silence on the much – talked – about drinking water crisis.

What is even more saddening is that with a reliable, workable water supply system covering all the residents of the crisis – affected parts of the capital city such as Christian Basti, parts of Ulubari, Lachit Nagar, Uzan Bazar to mention a few, evading them, their water woes only increase rather than reduce primarily on two grounds especially during the lean winters when their own sources such as deep wells, ponds, bore holes made by the flat owners to find water dry up. In such a pressure situation, the residents find no option left to them but to depend on private mobile water suppliers. But this arrangement has hardly come as a welcome relief for the acute water crisis. To speak more candidly, it has turned out to be an option that is far more taxing than pleasing in the case of many consumers for two prime reasons. One reason is the quality of water that is supplied as it is not always found to be clean and fresh. The other reason is that the money they ask for every month from the flat owner in Christian Basti, Lachit Nagar, parts of Chandmari and Zoo Road to name a few is between 1500 to 2000. This arbitrary fixation of the price of water by private operators has further added to the woes of many a middle – class family because it is sans doubt taking  a heavy toll on their shoe – string budgets. Indeed, the mental pangs of this group of residents about the high price of water fixed by many of them at their whims and fancies for 500 litres per day per household could have been reduced by some degree, if not considerably, had there been a high – powered committee headed by a retired judge of a court to oversee the private water supply mechanism in the city and regulate the rate fixation.

However, what authorities should keep in mind is that this private water supply arrangement remains in place as an absolute stop – gap measure, till the GMC is able to make water available to all the city –dwellers or else they will continue to be plagued by the twin problems of frequent rise in prices of water and its poor quality. Of course, it is without doubt that the city will face far more serious problems in the near future – that of the depletion of its ground water and wetlands – if large scale extraction of water from these natural sources by private operators continues unabated under the very nose of the GMC and the district administration. One may agree or not but it can be said that it is the misfortune of the residents of Guwahati that they should face a tough time for want of potable water, the majestic River Brahmaputra passing right through the city notwithstanding. Harnessing its water judiciously and meticulously to cater to the city’s growing water needs should have been on the top of the agenda of the Government. However, the absence of a well – thought – out, effective water management policy perspective has resulted in a section of private operators with vested interests exploiting these water sources injudiciously and illegally for commercial purposes.

True, there was a time not too long ago when the GMC used to supply 45 million litres of potable water a day from the major potable water treatment plant at Pan Bazar. However, at present, it supplies only 25 million litres from the same plant every day. This can be attributed to its reduced treatment capacity as the municipal authorities reportedly did not do any major repairing of the Ban Bazar plant for a couple of years. The even more frustrating part of the story concerning the GMC supplied drinking water is that it is now decidedly exposed to the danger of being contaminated by an alleged rampant water pilferage from the GMC pipes and the old worn – out pipe network. Should it so happen, there is a likelihood of this posing a serious health hazard.

The Pan Bazar plant which was commissioned in 1963, it may be noted here, alone fulfils half of the total volume of potable water supplied by the GMC which has three such water treatment plants in the city proper. However, with the alleged  water pilferage and leakage in its pipelines in different areas because of their being old and worn – out needing immediate repair, the GMC is not in a position to supply regularly in all the old localities such as Pan Bazar, Uzan Bazar, parts of Lachit Nagar, etc as they used to do in the recent past.

It is therefore, against this poor backdrop that all the authorities need to do is shoulder the responsibility in ensuring that the loopholes that are there in the existing water supply network are plugged in order that the city dwellers get water supply services at least at regular intervals, if not in two shifts, morning and afternoon. In some pockets of Uzan Bazar area, to mention the water crisis has so depressed the residents that about 3,000 people have to walk a few yards to get water from two tube wells outside, as revealed by Yukta Asom, a Guwahati based social organisation which had recently conducted a survey in over 3000 households in the city ahead of the June 19 civic polls in Guwahati. We all know that we can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs. So, to increase the volume of potable water supplied by the GMC to cater to the needs of the citizens, there is an urgent need to repair the existing plants. The question here is – why are the authorities dilly – dallying in making a decision on the all important, much needed issue? This is beyond all comprehension.

We often hear the Government saying that the city will have an uninterrupted water supply network by 2016. Will this become a reality in the given time? True, there are basically two much hyped water supply projects financed by both the Central Government and the Bank of Japan. However, work on both of these is continuing at a snail’s pace. This has raised a serious doubt about the projects being implemented by 2016. If these do not materialize, what will be the outcome is anyone’s guess. The residents’ woes will further increase rather that ease if in the meantime the GMC’s water services do not buck up.

Dwaipayan