Over five lakh residents of Dhanbad are facing acute water crisis since May 9 as the water supply department is unable to run pumps at Maithon due to a snag in a power transformer.

Though, supply was partially restored in some areas, including Barmasia and Hirapur, the next day (May 10) supply was totally suspended elsewhere. Among the areas worst hit are Ajanta Para, Chiragora, Vinod Nagar, Dhaiya, Bartand, Jaiprakash Nagar, Housing Colony, Bank More, Purana Bazar, Dhansar, Sastri Nagar, Manaitand and Gandhi Nagar.

President of Bank More Chamber of Commerce Prabhat Surolia spoke in anger, representing the mood of the coal capital.

“Our locality is near mining areas. Hence, ground water sources like well and hand pumps are not there. We are completely dependent on the supply from Maithon dam. Hence, we are the worst sufferers of the current water crisis,” said the resident of Anugrah Narayan Colony of Dhansar.

He said the chamber would raise the issue before the district administration as well as the state government level as the water supply scenario was bleak. “Even on good days supply is irregular because of which residents aren’t able to store water in their homes,” he added.

President of Federation of Dhanbad Zila Chamber of Industry and Commerce Rajesh Kumar Gupta espressed surprise that the water supply department did not seem to have a Plan-B. “Breakdowns in machinery are common. But, what we can’t understand is why there is no alternative arrangement of a standby transformer. Why are people being compelled to suffer for such long periods of time?” he said.

Executive engineer of the drinking water and sanitation department Harendra Kumar Mishra said the effort to replace the burnt out transformer was complicated. “We had to replace the 7700 KVA burnt transformer of Maithon with another one from the Bhelatand Water Treatment Plant. It was a complex affair involving over 50 labourers. But we completed the installation last (Monday) night,” he said, adding the water supply to all areas of Dhanbad was likely to resume by Wednesday.

As many as 19 water towers had gone dry after the transformer snag. “Each of them would have to be re-charged,” he said.

Dhanbad MLA Raj Sinha visited the Bhelatand water treatment plant on Tuesday to take stock of the situation.

But residents weren’t sure how soon their misery would end.

“The situation is pathetic in our area. Because of the intense heat, the situation is unbearable. We are being forced to drink untreated well water from nearby localities,” said Anand Chaurasia of Bekar Bandh.

Prem Prakash Paswan, a resident of Barmasia, said the worst sufferers were those who could not afford to buy water from vendors. “The rich were purchasing water from water vendors. But those who can’t afford it have to go to surrounding areas in search of wells and hand pumps. This takes up most of their time,” he said.