Concerned with the callousness on the part of Drinking Water & Sanitation Department (DW&SD), a 21-member team of residents from suburban Bagbera and Ghaghidih areas on Monday set out a 'Padayatra' to New Delhi demanding immediate completion of a mega drinking water project.
Led by Bagbera Bruhat Nagar Vikash Samiti (BBNVS) president, Subodh Jha, the team will demonstrate in front of the Prime Minister's office in support of their demand for the drinking water project which is hanging fire since the past five years.
While starting the march, the team stopped at the East Singhbhum deputy commissioner's office where it handed over a memorandum to the deputy commissioner. On the way, the team will hand over a similar memorandum to the Jharkhand Governor.
"During the past three years, we had demonstrated six times in front of the Jharkhand Assembly and staged gherao of the Governor's house twice demanding completion of the drinking water project. Finally, we are marching to New Delhi to demonstrate before the Prime Minister's office for getting our demand fulfilled," said Jha while talking to The Telegraph Online.
The BBNVS president said that though the DW&SD had started the mega project worth Rs 237 crores at Chhota Govindpur and Ghaghidih-Bagbera areas in the year 2015 promising it by 2018. He pointed out about 22,000 residents of Chhota Govindpur have started getting the drinking water totl their houses since 2019, residents of Bagbera and Ghaghidih are yet to get the water supply.
"We are worried about the drinking water supply in the parched Bagbera and Ghaghidih areas because the agency assigned to carry out the project has stopped work since the past two years with the DW&SD doing nothing to get the project completed," Jha said.
Executive engineer, DW&SD's Jamshedpur division, Abhay Toppo confirmed about the suspension of work in the Bagbera drinking water project site since the past two years.
"The agency has stopped work midway as it is facing a major financial problem. The agency, ILFS, which had taken the tender for both Chhota Govindpur and Bagbera drinking water project, could complete work in the the Chhota Govindpur site only before being hit with the financial crisis causing the work at the Bagbera project site to come to a standstill, " explained Toppo while talking to The Telegraph Online.
The executive engineer said about 31,000 households were supposed to get the water connection in the Bagbera and Ghaghidih areas, but the department is helpless as the bank guarantee of the agency in question has also been lapsed.