it's official now. The Howrah Municipal Corporation (hmc) authorities have admitted that the tap water being supplied to the inhabitants of this town in West Bengal is acidic and unfit for human consumption. The reasons cited for the bad quality of water are insufficient purification and contamination from pipes that leak. "The Ph level of water was found to be lower than that recommended by who. hmc engineers say the water treatment plant at Padamapukur is not equipped to treat Howrah's demand of 32 million gallons every day. Besides, hmc commissioner Chanchal Bandopadhyay feels that the garbage dumping lot at Belagachhia needs to be upgraded to deal with biomedical waste so that it does not contaminate groundwater.