More than three lakh residents of suburban areas in Dhanbad who are facing an acute drinking water crisis can hope for some relief in two or three months.

Piped water will be supplied by then from the Damodar via the new 143-million-litre-per-day treatment plant set up by the drinking water and sanitation department in Petia village in Jamadoba.

Testing of supply through 16 of the 31 water towers built under the Rs 365-crore project is underway.

Supply tests on the remaining 15 towers are likely to be completed by June 15.

Among the localities that will benefit from the project are Jamadoba, Putki, Sijua, Tetulmari, Shakti Chowk, Katras, Nawadih, Sabalpur and Bhelatand.

“Testing of all the 31 water towers is likely to be completed by the middle of June. The project will benefit residents of areas that are not covered either by Mada or Maithon water supply projects. The allotment of water connections to households by laying pipelines from the water towers to the respective localities will be issued after floating another tender,” Harendra Mishra, executive engineer of the drinking water and sanitation department, said on Friday.

The ambitious project, conceptualised under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission in 2011, was scheduled to be completed five years ago. However, the Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL) not okaying the setting up of overhead tanks in underground fire-hit areas and the absence of approval for laying pipelines through railway tracks held up the project.

The project cost, which initially stood at Rs 298 crore, was later revised to Rs 365 crore because of the delay.

The project was divided into two parts — Sindri and Jamadoba — for convenience of execution.

The Sindri part — which comprises a water treatment plant of 13.5-million-litre-per-day capacity, an intake well of 19-million-litre-per-day capacity and five overhead tanks besides laying of 84km pipeline — was made operational in 2016 to supply to localities in Sindri, Patherdih, Chasnala and adjoining areas.

The Jamadoba phase, which comprises a water treatment plant of 143-million-litte-per-day capacity, an intake well of 183-million-litre-per-day capacity and laying of over 260km of pipeline besides the installation of over 31 overhead tanks, was delayed because of the lack of no-objection certfificates by the BCCL and the railways. Protests by those who lost land in Petia in 2015 also held up the water treatment plant in Jamadoba.