The ongoing water crisis that gripped Jharia last week has intensified with the development of new leaks in the main pipeline of Mineral Area Development Authority (Mada) in several places.
At the initiative of newly elected Jharia MLA Purnima Singh and Dhanbad Municipal Corporation (DMC), tankers supplied water in several residential pockets such as Jealgora, Bhagatdih, Baniahir and Patherdih on Tuesday and Wednesday.
However, it was not sufficient to meet the requirement of over 5 lakh residents of Jharia and adjoining areas who are dependent on supply of water from the Damodar through the Jamadoba-based water treatment plant.
Shekhar Kumar, a resident of Koiri Bandh locality in Jharia, said: “This is the worst crisis in the recent memory. Even when Mada employees went on a strike for more than nine days in July last year, DMC had supplied water from Maithon lake. In Jharia, if the water crisis continues for three days at a stretch, the problem becomes acute because the majority of the area falls in the mining zone and additional sources of water such as wells and hand pumps are very few.”
The Mada pipeline is interconnected with the DMC pipeline that supplies water from Maithon lake water in Dhanbad. During the time of need, water from Maithon can be supplied to Jharia by opening a valve interconnection point in the pipeline.
Nanhka Sao, a resident of Hetlibandh, said they were being compelled to fetch water from a well situated more than 500 metres away from their for daily chores “It takes me around three hours every day to bring water from the well. For drinking purposes, we have been buying packaged drinking water being sold at Rs 25 per 20 litres,” he said.
Sub-divisional officer of Mada water supply division Pankaj Kumar Jha said they had repaired the main leak near the Jamadoba plant on December 22 itself, but as soon the supply was restored, new leaks started developing.
“New leaks developed on December 23 and 24 at another place in Jamadoba for which the repair work is underway. We will try to complete the repairs by tonight (Wednesday) and supply is likely to resume tomorrow (Thursday),” he said.
Jharia MLA Purnima Singh said: “We have sent at least 10 tankers in different localities of Jharia to provide some relief to the people.”
