Tura water scarcity to ease by 2005

TURA, April 8: Tura town, the district headquarters of West Garo Hills and home to over a lakh people, has over the years begun to experience water shortage. The condition is most severe during the winters, from November to January and gradually extends to June until the monsoons arrive. Already the residents of many localities are unable to cope with this shortfall. To make matters worse, many of the streams and water holes have already dried up. The most affected areas are the main market area Hawakhana, New Tura, Dakopgre and adjoining areas which is home to a majority of the population. The first phase of the water supply was built in 1970 by the Public Health Engineering Department (PHE). Gradually, the second phase came into being in the year 1980 for an additional population of 87,827 persons. These two phases depended entirely on the Ganol river, which passed outside Tura town, as its source from where pumping was done. But the system began to have drawbacks over the years as the river water tended to dry up during the dry season before the onset of monsoons. This resulted in limited water supply to the town. Another reason for the drying up was due to large-scale deforestation. Attachment areas were damaged to a large extent by the felling of trees and the ancient method of shifting (jhum) cultivation which many of the local farmers practised. Till date deforestation and jhum cultivation continues unabated. As the demand for adequate drinking water increased, successive governments assured the matter would be looked into, but the PHE had to face the wrath of the public. It is only now that the Government has cleared the project for the third phase. The project was meant for implementation during the 2000-2001 financial year, but will now be taken up only in 2001-2002. The new phase will cover all the new localities of Tura town besides 37 villages having a population of 32,225 people. Places like Dakopgre and New Tura which house the majority of Government offices will be benefited and so also would the schools and plantations that have come up in the outskirts of the town. Pumping of water is to be done from underneath the ground and regular supply of power is an essential part of the project. The Ganol river will be the source and about ten reservoirs are being built for storing water. The project is expected to be completed by 2005 and the estimate has been put at Rs 81.72 crore. The PHE officials had earlier submitted an estimate of Rs 21.76 crore which was turned down by the Government.