5,000 residents without water for 50 days amid Bengal’s Jyotinagar eviction row

Around 5,000 residents of Jyotinagar Colony in north Kolkata’s Cossipore area have been without piped water for more than 50 days after KMC disconnected supply on July 29

Saira Bibi, a 24-year-old resident of Jyotinagar Colony in north Kolkata’s Cossipore area, was waiting behind two other women in the queue near a roadside tap to fill her two buckets and return home soon, as she had to leave her six-month-old girl alone in the shanty.

With no water in the taps close to their shanties, women and children fetch water from adjacent colonies, while water tankers are hired twice every week to supply water to the residents.

Bibi is not alone. Around 5,000 residents of Jyotinagar Colony in north Kolkata’s Cossipore area have been without piped water for more than 50 days after the Kolkata Municipal Corporation disconnected supply on July 29, with the Calcutta high court on Friday extending an interim order restraining authorities from taking coercive steps against them amid an eviction dispute.

“The water supply to the tap near my house, and several other taps in that row, have been disconnected. It has been more than a month now. Hence, I have to fetch water from the tap near the Cossipore Gun and Shell Factory,” she said while requesting the women in front of her to hurry up.

Secretary of the local slum development committee Sheikh Moinuddin said, “The residents are mostly Muslims living in shanties. We don’t have taps inside the shanties and depend on the roadside taps for water. On July 29, however, the KMC disconnected the water supply to around six taps in a stretch of 100 metres on Bank Strand Road.”

The colony is primarily inhabited by daily labourers and rag pickers, who claimed to have been living here for the past few decades. Locals said that while names of around 150 residents of the colony were deleted in the SIR, the fate of around 250-270 names was still hanging in the balance before the Supreme Court-mandated appellate tribunal. There are around 350 existing voters.

The land, measuring around 3,478 sq m, belongs to the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, formerly known as the Kolkata Port. Under Section 5 of the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Act, 1971, the occupants were asked to vacate the land. The order surfaced after the change in regime in the state.

“The water connection was disconnected without any warning. No notices were served. No reasons were cited. It was only in August, after the water connection was disconnected, we came to know that the Estate Officer of Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port had issued an eviction notice in February this year stating that we were encroachers in their land,” Alamgir Biswas, another resident, said.

With no water in the taps close to their shanties, women and children fetch water from adjacent colonies, while water tankers are hired twice every week to supply water to the residents.

“You should come on days when the water tankers come. Hundreds gather with buckets and utensils to collect the water. It looks like a refugee camp,” said Saira Bibi.

Repeated calls to Smita Pandey, commissioner of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, went unanswered. She also didn’t respond to WhatsApp messages.

“It has been quite a few weeks now that the water supply to the area has been disconnected. I am not sure about the reason. I am not with the civic ward councillor any more. The civic board has been dissolved. But this happened after the Bharatiya Janata Party-government came to power in May,” said Suman Singh, former councillor of ward 6 of the KMC.

After the eviction notice came to light and the water supply was disconnected, the locals moved the Calcutta high court.

“The Calcutta high court has ordered that no coercive steps could be taken against the residents. The petitioners (local residents) were not made party to the proceedings following which the eviction order was passed by the Estate Officer. This violates the principles of natural justice and the fundamental rule of audi alteram partem (hear the other side). The respondents being public authorities cannot arbitrarily deprive the petitioners of such essential civic amenity without authority of law a fair, just and reasonable procedure,” Advocate representing the colony residents Samim Ahmed said.

The Calcutta high court heard the matter on Friday and extended the interim order, directing authorities not to take any coercive steps till September.