A division bench of Jharkhand High Court asked the state government and Ranchi Municipal Corporation on Friday to furnish details of all water bodies in the state capital along with historical data and current status.

While hearing a PIL filed by one Khushbhu Kataruka alleging abuse and encroachment of water bodies in Ranchi, a bench comprising Chief Justice Ravi Ranjan and Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad also asked the director of Geological Survey of India to be present before it during the next hearing, the date of which would be finalised soon.

The petitioner had accused the district administration and state government of sustained apathy in safeguarding water bodies leading to their shrinking. She also pointed to unregulated concrete structures that had been allowed to be constructed over the years around catchment areas.

During the course of Friday's hearing, the court also sought details from the district administration on action taken to remove encroachments from Dhurwa and Kanke dams, among the three key water bodies in the capital supplying potable drinking water to households.

In July last year, the high court had also come down heavily on Ranchi’s civic body for failing to prevent encroachments near water bodies. Thereafter, the district administration swung into action to remove squatters and demolish illegal structures by conducting anti-encroachment drives along Harmu river and several dams in and around the city.