Around 1 lakh residents of the capital city are suffering without water for the last 15 days because of leaks in the supply pipe at eight places in the 4km stretch from Kanta Toli Chowk to Booty More.

The places where the pipe has developed leaks are near Mangal Tower, Kokar Chowk, Hanuman Dharam Kanta, Sarna Toli Chowk, Surendra Nath Centenary School, Khelgaon Chowk, Deepatoli cantonment area and Booty More, all along NH-33.

“The 30-inch main pipe that supplies water from Booty Hill-based tank to Kokar, Kanta Toli, Namkum and Chutia locality is leaking in several places. Therefore, the pressure of water has reduced substantially and affected supply,” Rajesh Kumar Mahto, a resident of Chutia, said.

A businessman of Sarna Toli, Ashok Choudhary, agreed with Mahto.

“During summer, water becomes more valuable than gold. However, there is no one to plug the leaks and prevent wastage of water,” Choudhary said.

Sameer Munda, a resident of Kokar Dharamkanta, said he had been purchasing water to meet his daily needs.

“I have to depend on bottled water available in the market as there is no water supply in my locality for the last 15 days. Had it been winter or monsoon, the hand pumps in the locality would have been of great help. However, in summer, even the hand pumps are rendered useless because of depleting groundwater levels,” Munda said.

Executive engineer of drinking water and sanitation department K.K. Verma admitted the problem and assured that it would be sorted out within a week.

“The department has to plug only two leaks. The other six leaks are minor and Ranchi Municipal Corporation has to take care of it. The work will be done within a week” Verma said.

An employee of the drinking water and sanitation department said leaks in pipeline, that had become old and worn out, were a recurring problem.

“The pipe through which water is supplied to Kokar, Chutia, Deepatoli and Kanta Toli is more than 60 year old and needs to be replaced,” he said.