Fearing an "acute" water crisis next month, the Darjeeling municipality has sought funds from the West Bengal government to help draw water from other areas and supply to local residents.
"Each day the water level of two water reservoirs in the hill is dropping by two inches. If weather conditions remain the same, we fear an acute water crisis in April," Darjeeling Municipality Chairman Amar Rai claimed in a recent letter to the state government.
"We have written letters to the state principal secretary and the district magistrate seeking a fund of Rs 38 lakh to help us distribute the water drawn from other areas to locals," Rai told reporters here. Stating that Darjeeling town requires 1.5 to 1.8 million gallons of water everyday, Rai said Kurseong municipality was expected to get Rs 50 to Rs 60 crore from the government as it had already prepared and placed different projects to the department concerned.