IIT Kharagpur faces acute water shortage, residents requested to limit usage

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) at Kharagpur in West Bengal is facing an acute shortage of water for the past one week, people aware of the developments said.

“There is hardly any water in the toilets. Even drinking water isn’t available all the time. We are buying bottled water. When one needs to go to the washroom or take a bath, they have to go to another block where there may be water at that point of time,” a student said.

Students said the water scarcity started around a week ago and authorities are yet to fund a solution.

“It has been a problem for some time and major rework is going on to resolve it once and for all,” said Suman Chakraborty, director of IIT Kharagpur.

According to a communication issued by Captain Amit Jain (retd), the institute’s registrar, last week, “Due to sudden and significant fall in the water level at the Anicut (source), the intake to the IIT Kharagpur water treatment system has reduced by approximately 25%, with only 6.67 million litres available per day.”

“This reduction has already impacted the overall distribution of water across the institute. All residents and campus users are requested to avoid all non-essential usage including gardening or lawn watering, car washing, roof or floor cleaning using hose pipes, excessive flushing or prolonged tap use, any decorative or leisure water usage,” said the letter.

The Anicut is a large source of water constructed in 2017 to create a canal for irrigation purposes at the downstream of Mukutmonipur dam on Kangsabati river.

Engineers of the state irrigation and waterways department in West Bengal, however, said that there is no shortage of water at Anicut.

“There is absolutely no shortage of water at Anicut. There may be some problems at IIT’s end,” said a senior engineer stationed in West Midnapore district.

“The issue started right after Diwali. We are facing an acute shortage of water including drinking water. We can’t wash clothes. All the students are queuing up in one or two blocks where there is some water. There is a huge rush,” said another student.

Jain, who issued the communication, refused to comment on the developments. People aware of the developments said that the institute’s water works section was exploring possible temporary measures to stabilise the situation.