Mail News Service
Jamshedpur, Feb 14: Water scarcity continues to plague Bagbera and Adityapur every summer and this year is no exception. Despite a ₹600 crore water supply project initiated by the Jharkhand government to address the crisis, bureaucratic delays and pending approvals have left the schemes incomplete.
In Bagbera, 85% of the water supply project has been completed, but a crucial three-kilometer rising pipeline remains unfinished due to the lack of a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the railway. Similarly, only 60% of the ₹400 crore Adityapur water supply project has been completed, with the construction of a water tank and filtration plant still pending. As a result, nearly 6.5 lakh residents in both areas are expected to struggle with water shortages again this summer.
According to the Drinking Water and Sanitation Department, the Bagbera project is in its final stages and officials claim that water will start reaching households this summer. However, significant work remains. The construction of the water treatment plant in Giddi Jhopdi, which has been ongoing for five years, is still incomplete. Additionally, the laying of the rising pipeline from Sapra to Bagbera is pending. The primary reason for these delays was the slow progress of IL&FS, the original contractor, which led to its blacklisting. The work has now been reassigned to Preeti Construction.
The Bagbera water supply scheme, which costs ₹237 crore, was originally planned for completion in 2018 but remains unfinished, affecting a population of 3.5 lakh.
In Adityapur, the situation is even more concerning. Out of the 11 planned water towers, only two have been completed and the intake well near Sapra and Sitarampur Dam has not even been built. Pipeline installation in several areas remains incomplete. A major obstacle in the project was the delay in NOC approval from the Forest Department, which took five years to clear the intake well construction. The Adityapur water supply scheme, costing ₹400 crore, was scheduled for completion in 2022, yet it remains unfinished, impacting 3 lakh people.
According to Sunil Kumar, Executive Engineer of Jamshedpur Division Rural, the Bagbera water supply project is expected to be completed in the next two to three months. Once the remaining 3 km pipeline is connected, a trial run of the water supply will be conducted. However, given past delays, residents remain sceptical about whether these deadlines will be met.
