Salt Lake Sector V Faces Severe Water Rationing

As the heatwave intensifies, Kolkata’s premier IT hub, Salt Lake Sector V, is facing its worst-ever water crisis. The Nabadiganta Industrial Township Authority (NDITA) has officially notified IT parks and residential complexes that water supply will be rationed to twice a day, starting this morning. The groundwater level in the Rajarhat-New Town belt has reportedly plummeted to record lows due to over-extraction and the lack of pre-monsoon showers.

The crisis has immediate implications for the thousands of tech professionals working in the hub. Several large-scale IT firms have reportedly requested their employees to “Work From Home” for the remainder of the week to reduce the load on the hub’s infrastructure. “The chillers in the server rooms and the cooling towers require massive amounts of water. If the supply is cut, we face a risk of equipment overheating,” said a facility manager at a prominent tech park.

Environmentalists have long warned about the “Concrete Jungle” effect in New Town, where the lack of greenery and water bodies has led to a “Heat Island” phenomenon. The state government is currently fast-tracking a project to pipe water from the Hooghly River to the IT hub, but the project is not expected to be complete until late 2026. For now, Sector V is a stark example of how urban growth without ecological planning is hitting the state’s economic engines.