Over seven lakh people of the capital who get water from Getalsud (Rukka) Dam in Ormanjhi had to spend Wednesday with dry taps owing to pipe-interconnectivity and maintenance work taken up by the state drinking water and sanitation department.
Executive engineer of drinking water and sanitation (Rukka division) Prabhat Kumar Singh said they had to announce a shutdown of water supply from 10am on Wednesday to 10am on Thursday.
“The inconvenience is regretted but the shutdown is necessary for maintenance and operational work,” Singh said.
He added: “We have two supply units where pipe interconnecting work has been undertaken. The old unit supplies 30 million gallon per day and the newly commissioned unit 8 million gallon per day. Both the units are being interconnected keeping people’s needs in mind. The old unit requires maintenance on a large scale, which will take time. So, in order to maintain a balanced water supply, both the units are being interconnected.”
Located on river Subernarekha, Rukka dam has a total catchment area of 717sqkm.
A source however said that water supply would be resumed only late Thursday evening.
Prashant Mitra
The two supply lines that originate from Rukka dam — Booty and Hatia — distribute water across areas of the capital such as Namkum, Kantatoli, Bahu Bazaar, Chutia, Samlong, Tatisilwai, Hotwar, Bariatu, RIMS, Morabadi, Dipatoli, Ratu road, a part of Kanke Road, Upper Bazaar, Main Road, Hindpiri, Pepee Compound, Lalpur, Doranda, Kusai and many others.
Though the department had informed people about the maintenance work through its field officers and staff, many people were caught unprepared.
Sanjay Kumar, a resident of Ratu Road, said some of his relatives from Bihar had come to Ranchi to stay with him for a week “The water problem was just too acute. Ultimately, I bought water from a local supplier,” he said. Chutia resident Manoj Kumar said he was worried as he had invited guests on Wednesday evening to celebrate his son’s birthday. “This (water-supply halt) had to happen today of all days,” he rued. “I don’t know how I will manage without water but I can’t postpone the party.”
An RMC official said they were doing their best to come of use to people. “We deputed our ward supervisors at our deep boring installations to help people get water. Our water tankers moved across the capital to supply water. We also received 20 requisitions for bulk supply of water today (Wednesday),” the official said.
