Bhogdoi Drinking Water Supply Project: A serious health hazard

Bhogdoi Drinking Water Supply Project: A serious health hazard

(Woes of Bhogdoi Part-2)

British era filters still in use

From our Correspondent

JORHAT, July 29: Bhogdoi Water Supply Project of Jorhat Municipal Board (JMB), the oldest water supply project of the town, has turned into a serious health hazard. Thanks to human interference, the Bhogdoi river located at Puja Dubi area of the town has been polluted beyond limits.

According to information received from JMB authorities, the Bhogdoi Water Supply Project was constructed during the British colonial rule in the country and is currently using the same age-old filter. The project provides drinking water to more than 1,200 people of the town, sources said. But, surprisingly, no major renovation project have been taken up so far.

This apart, thousands of people residing on the bank of the river have been throwing their garbage to the river since decades. As a result, the siltation of the river is on the rise for the last few years and the breadth of the river is also decreasing. Moreover, many people residing on the embankment have fixed their toilet outlets to the river at a very short distance from where the drinking water project lies right under the very nose of the district administration as well as the JMB authority.

Therefore, questions are being raised as to how the concerned authorities can allow such unhygienic water supply to provide potable water to the people living here? Why the Water Resources Department and the district administration have been playing the role of a mute spectator on these illegal activities?

It has been alleged that, thousands of people including a large number of suspected illegal migrants have been residing illegally at Puza Dubi on the bank of the river. JMB chairman Prasanta Bora also admitted to the facts and said many people are illegally residing on the bank of Bhogdoi river and have been polluting it.

THE SENTINEL