Residents of New Town Rajarhat will organise a convention on 2 July to protest against unplanned planning of Housing and Infrastructure Development Corporation (Hidco) that has led to acute drinking water crisis in the area. Most of the tube-wells in vast areas surrounding the New Town, including Baguiati, Raghunathpur and Teghoria, have become dry as the water table has gone down by 10 to 15 feet. Apart from environmentalists and water experts, heads of Rajarhat Gopalpur municipality and Trinamul Congress MLAs from Rajarhat have been invited to the convention, according to Mr Nilotpal Dutta, secretary, Rajarhat Jami Bachao Committee. The residents have demanded that the state government should immediately come up with a proper drinking water policy. The proposal to carry unfiltered water from the Hooghly via Kestopur and Bagjola canals has been scrapped by the new government. The erstwhile Left Front government had allowed indiscriminate sinking of deep tube-wells and submersible pumps. Local people alleged how could the previous government give clearance to construct buildings without making arrangements for drinking water. Mr Kalyan Rudra, an water expert, said it is mandatory that steps should be immediately taken to supply piped water in New Town. The area is situated close to the arsenic belt and sinking of deep tube-wells should be banned. As the water table has fallen alarmingly the whole area may subside if steps are not taken now. The state housing minister, Mr Shyamapada Mukherjee, had visited New Town to make an on-the-spot survey of the infrastructure.