A housing complex on Kolkata’s eastern edge became the site of an angry protest over the weekend, after residents said the water flowing through their taps had turned foul-smelling and, in some cases, made people sick. Residents of the Rajarhat complex, home to more than 1,300 flats, allege that dead snakes, frogs, and insects were found inside the building’s water reservoir — and that several people, including children and the elderly, fell ill after using the water for drinking and cooking.
An FIR has been lodged at Rajarhat police station based on the residents’ complaints, a senior police officer confirmed.
What residents are alleging
According to the complaints, the water supplied to flats in the complex was muddy and foul-smelling, and residents say it caused stomach ailments among a number of people in the building, with some cases serious enough to require hospitalisation.
“We have spent lakhs of rupees to buy our flats, but there is no peace here. Many people have suffered from stomach ailments, and some have even been hospitalised. We believe the contaminated water is responsible for these,” resident Swapan Kumar Mitra said.
Residents also allege that the complex’s water reservoirs, storage tanks, and internal pipelines have not been properly maintained, and that dead animals turning up in the reservoir is a direct consequence of that neglect.
No piped municipal supply
Underlying the complaint is a detail that will sound familiar to anyone who follows how New Town and Rajarhat have grown: residents say there is no regular water supply from the local civic body or any other government agency reaching the complex, which is why the building depends on groundwater pumped directly into its reservoirs. That reliance on unfiltered or poorly monitored groundwater, rather than a treated municipal line, is what residents point to as the root of the problem.
Why this keeps coming up in Rajarhat and New Town
This isn’t happening in isolation. Rajarhat and New Town have added residential towers at a pace that has, in pockets, outrun the civic infrastructure meant to serve them — piped water and sewage connections in particular. Where a housing complex isn’t yet connected to a treated municipal supply, the building’s own reservoir and tank maintenance becomes the only real safeguard against exactly this kind of contamination. When that upkeep lapses, as residents allege happened here, the risk shows up first in the water people are cooking and bathing with.
What residents in similar complexes can do
- Ask your complex’s management or RWA for the last date reservoirs and overhead tanks were cleaned and inspected
- Push for a written tank-cleaning schedule, ideally every three to six months, with a shared record
- Report foul odour, discolouration, or visible debris in tap water immediately rather than waiting for it to worsen
- Know your nearest police station’s contact details for filing a complaint if management is unresponsive — in this case, that’s Rajarhat police station
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly are residents alleging happened at the Rajarhat complex?
Residents say foul-smelling, contaminated water was supplied to over 1,300 flats, with dead snakes, frogs, and insects allegedly found in the reservoir, and several residents falling ill, some requiring hospitalisation.
Has an FIR been filed?
Yes, an FIR has been lodged at Rajarhat police station based on the residents’ complaints.
Why does this keep happening in parts of New Town and Rajarhat?
Many complexes in the area still lack a regular piped municipal water connection and rely on groundwater pumped into on-site reservoirs, which makes tank and pipeline maintenance critical — and leaves buildings vulnerable when that maintenance lapses.
What should residents do if they suspect contaminated water in their own complex?
Report the issue to building management immediately, ask for reservoir inspection records, and escalate to the local police station if the response is inadequate, as residents did in this case.
The bottom line
For a complex housing over 1,300 families, this isn’t a minor maintenance complaint — it’s a public health issue that has already sent people to hospital. It’s also a reminder of a bigger, recurring gap in parts of New Town and Rajarhat, where fast vertical growth hasn’t always been matched by the civic water infrastructure to support it. Kolkata Dekho will follow up as the police investigation and any civic body response develop.
Source: Millennium Post.
