More than 5 lakh Jharia residents will not get piped water on Thursday and Friday as the Mineral Area Development Authority (Mada) will carry out a special drive to plug the leaks in the pipelines.

For the last six months, the residents haven’t been getting steady supply due to leaks in the 30-inch and 18-inch diameter pipes in Jorapokhar and Jamadoba.

During the repair process, supply to various localities such as Jharia Bazar, Bastacola, Ena Islampur, Ena Kothi, Bhagatdih, Baniadhir, Digwadih, Bhowra and Digwadih will remain suspended.

Mada executive engineer Indresh Shukla said, “Besides repairing the leaks, we will also replace the sluice valves at various places in the pipeline at Jamadoba.”

Last month, local residents staged protests in different parts of Jharia including Rajmata Colony and Digwadih Bazar against irregular and inadequate water supply.

The civic body, besides repairing the leaks, will also carry out long-term comprehensive measures after the conclusion of the election process on May 23. These include replacing the entire pipelines from Jamadoba-based water treatment plant to Jharia and Putki under the comprehensive overhaul project at a cost of Rs 296 crore.

While around Rs 185 crore will be spent from funds generated from bazar fee collected by Mada, Rs 111 crore will be arranged from the District Mineral Foundation Trust (DMFT).

“Besides replacing the main water supply pipeline, we will also overhaul the two treatment plants at Jamadoba – a 12 million gallons per day (mgd) capacity water plant and a 9 mgd unit,” said Shukla.

Mada supplies around 175 lakh gallons of Damodar river water to Jharia and parts of Katras from the two water treatment plants.

This apart, the civic body also supplies around 10 lakh gallons of water to Katras town and adjoining areas from the Topchanchi Lake.