Around 2 lakh residents of Bagbera on the steel city’s fringes would have to depend on water tankers this summer too, as the much delayed Bagbera-Chotagovindpur water project is unlikely to take off before July.

Both executing agency state drinking water and sanitation department and South Eastern railway (SER) Chakradharpur division, on whose land pipelines need to be placed, are blaming each other for the delay.

Drinking water and sanitation officials alleged SER Chakradharpur division was delaying permission to place pipelines under a railway bridge over Kharkai near Jugsalai. In turn, SER officials said the department’s initial blueprint was faulty and it had not submitted a fresh one.

The Rs 237-crore Chotago-vindpur-Bagbera drinking water project foundation stone was laid by chief minister Raghubar Das on April 18, 2015, with a 2017-end deadline. Land acquisition delays extended the deadline to 2018-end.

Now, it seems the Chotagovindpur part of the project, to cover 1.19 residents, is way ahead of the Bagbera part. Executive engineer drinking water and sanitation department (Jamshedpur) Shishir Kumar Soren pointed out while the Chhotagovindpur project was likely to supply water by mid-March, with trial runs underway now, in contrast its Bagbera counterpart was held up.

“Earlier, tribal protests posed a hurdle to land acquisition,” Soren said. “Now the railways are delaying the no-objection certificate. We are quickly completing other components of the Bagbera project. We hope to complete it by June-end on getting railway clearance,” Soren said.

Assistant engineer-II Tatanagar, A.K. Saxena, however, put the blame on drinking water and sanitation department. “Department officials aren’t serious about giving the railways a proper drawing (blueprint of where and how the pipes will be laid). The earlier drawing submitted by the department had flaws that were pointed out. A fresh and detailed drawing was sought, which has still not arrived. Only after the drawing is cleared and money (given by an agency to use railway property) is paid, can we give a go-ahead,” Saxena said.

Bagbera residents are angry. “We urgently need water supply in summer,” said Bagbera resident and social worker Subodh Jha. “But the Chotagovindpur end of the project is nearing completion and the Bagbera one is nowhere near. As things stand, we don’t think we can get water this summer. Soon, the model code of conduct will come into force. We will have to complaint with the CM,” Jha said.