Currently, the Garden Reach water works (having six independent plants) produce 210 million gallons of water daily. However, water produced here goes to major areas of south Kolkata and its suburban areas extending up to areas located off EM Bypass. Apart from this, the plant at Garden Reach supplies potable water to adjacent municipalities like Pujali and Maheshtala.“The proposed 40 MGD plant was designed to cater to specific areas where residents depend on groundwater and high-rises that applied for safe drinking water,” said a KMC water supply department official. The official added that the majority of the high-rises that applied for potable water from Garden Reach are located in Behala, Joka, Tollygunge, Jadavpur, Garia, Chetla, and Rashbehari Avenue, among others.“We get filtered water, but we are heavily dependent on groundwater. We already applied for an extended ferrule from KMC. We were even willing to pay additional money. If the project materialises, it will be of real help to all of us,” said Jyotirmoy Sinha Roy of Merlin Laurel Garden at Purba Barisha in Behala. The complex has 96 flats spread over six towers in three blocks.Sumanta Mitra, a resident of Genexx Valley, a 15-year-old complex in Joka that has 6,000 residents spread over 1,875 flats, said they are entirely dependent on groundwater and, even after years of pleading before the KMC and meeting minister Firhad Hakim, there was no solution to the acute water problem.” If the project is completed, it will be of immense help to us,” said Mitra.
