Kolkata: Residents continued to suffer as water pressure remained low in many areas of north Kolkata, owing to the leak in KMC’s water supply line under Tala Bridge.Though engineers of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) have managed to divert supply from the damaged pipe to other distribution lines, the problem has not been fully solved, admitted civic officials.Pockets of at least four wards in North Kolkata — 7, 8, 9 and 19 — were still having problems, sources said. “Because of low pressure, water is not reaching the farthest corners of a supply line. Suppose the line is 250m long. Homes at the head of the line are receiving adequate water supply. Gradually, the volume of water is going down as one goes to the other end. Homes at the farthest end are receiving very little or no water,” said a KMC official.Sources said KMC was still receiving requests for water tankers from many areas. “We had to deploy about 20 water tankers on Sat, but this was far fewer than what we supplied on Wed or Thu. We supplied over 500 tankers at the peak of the problem,” an official said.An official said complaints of water shortage had reached KMC offices from Shyambazar Street, Ahiritola and some other pockets of north Kolkata. A Bowbazar resident said their household did not receive adequate water supply on Saturday.“Because of the leak, the water pressure had reduced. Besides, we had to reduce the pressure while releasing water from Tala tank so that the damaged pipe did not suffer more damage. This led to creation of voids in distribution pipes. Air pockets may also have developed,” said an official.Air pockets block normal flow of water. “Air pockets will go away after three or four days from when supply resumes under normal pressure,” said an official.Sources said had the scale of the problem still remained like Wednesday or Thursday, KMC would have been in trouble managing the situation. “There is always a demand for extra water during Chhath Puja. The demand peaks up in many homes. Besides, we have created 6 artificial ponds for Chhath Puja rituals,” said an official.
