Full Breakdown
TMC MP Samirul Islam Appeals to UN Over Prolonged Water Cutoff in Kolkata’s Jyoti Nagar Colony
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Background and Scope of the Crisis
On July 29, the municipal water supply to Jyoti Nagar Colony in Kolkata’s ward 6 stopped and, according to *The Hindu*, has not resumed. The stoppage followed pipeline work carried out by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, after which five public taps serving the area ran dry. The colony, situated on the Ganges bank near the historic Cossipore Guns and Shells factory, houses roughly 5,000 residents, the majority of whom are Muslim. Residents have been forced to use turbid river water for bathing and washing, and several children have developed skin infections requiring treatment.
Official Statement from Samirul Islam
Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Samirul Islam wrote to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on October 9, 2026, urging the UN to investigate what he described as a denial of a basic human right. In the letter, Islam alleged that the water cut-off began after the Bharatiya Janata Party assumed power in West Bengal following the 2026 Assembly elections and that the action was motivated by the residents’ religious identity and voting patterns. He warned that prolonged deprivation could trigger widespread disease and affect thousands of vulnerable people, and he requested that UN mechanisms seek information from the state authorities about the failure to restore an adequate water supply.
Data and Health Impact
Verbatim Quote
“The reason for stopping drinking water is highly alarming… The water services cut off as the BJP leaders who have recently come to power in the state, considered that those people have no right to get drinking water as they are Muslims and did not cast vote for the BJP,” — Samirul Islam