The much-needed Rs 235-crore sewer project under AMRUT at the densely populated Adityapur Municipal Corporation area in Seraikela-Kharsawan, adjoining to the steel city, seems to be stuck due to serious land problems.

Though the foundation stone-laying ceremony for the project was performed by chief minister Raghubar Das in December 2017 with a 30-month target, little progress has been made in the past 11 months as most identified project sites seem to be encroached.

Asked, mayor Vinod Srivastava blamed the consultant agency for not identifying dispute-free land.

Under the project, which aims to benefit 2.5 lakh residents under the corporation area, four sewage treatment plants were set up beside laying pipelines across the municipality area that comprises Adityapur and parts of Gamharia. But, project executing agency Shapoorji Pallonji has been able to set up a boundary wall only at one of the four sites.

The sewage treatment plants were supposed to be set up at Sapra, Saldih Bustee and near Surya Mandir, all three in Adityapur, and fourth near Gamharia railway station. Land problem has cropped in all sites except Sapra where a boundary wall has been set up. Pipelines have started to be laid at Satvahani-Jamalpur, Adityapur, in October, but work is slow as three of four sewage plant sites have hit an impasse.

Admitting that apart from Sapra, all three sites are problematic, Srivastava said, “Work at the site near Surya Mandir in Adityapur-2 (a purely residential area) is held up as owing to an encroachment dispute since 2008 for which there is a stay by Jharkhand High Court. At Saldih bustee site, 19 houses are set up on government land. Work at the site near Gamharia railway station is again held up as a road comes in the way

of the project site.”

The Adityapur mayor added Tata Consulting Engineers had carried out the land survey. “They identified the land. The agency should have identified land without dispute,” he observed.

This paper independently tried to contact Tata Consulting Engineers for their comments without success.

Sewage is a ticking time bomb for residents of Adityapur as most pipelines were laid over 60 years ago. Existing old pipes often leak puddles

of sewage and overflow in drains, even running the risk of contaminating old drinking water pipes.

“We are used to living with stench from leaking pipelines. We just hope there is no epidemic owing to this dirt and constant risk of drinking water contamination,” said Rahul Kumar Singh of Road 5 in Adityapur Colony.