committee formed to look into anomalies in Mango drinking water project

Jamshedpur : State health and energy minister Rajendra Prasad Singh today chaired the district planning committee meeting at the district collectorate.

The committee also constituted a four-member committee to look into the anomalies in the Rs 64.18 crore Mango drinking water project and submit report within June 30.

� Acting on the complaints about new connections and pending bills for the Mango drinking water project the committee will examine all such issues and submit report before the next district planning committee meeting on June 30 at district collectorate,� Rajendra Prasad Singh said.

The committee comprises special officer rationing East Singhbhum, Anil Kumar Rai, special officer Mango notified area committee, Jagadish Yadav, executive engineer Jharkhand Urja Nigam Limited, Jamshedpur, Subodh Kumar and executive engineer drinking water and sanitation department (DW&SD), Najre Imam.

The Mango drink water project, which has crossed seven scorching summers with the promise of quenching the thirst of more than 3 lakh residents, looks to miss yet another deadline.

The Mango project � aiming to supply 48 million litres per day � started in 2005 as a public-private partnership between state drinking water and sanitation department and Tata Steel subsidiary Jusco. At present, against a demand for over six million litres of water a day, three lakh Mango residents receive less than a third, that is, less than two million litres.

The Rs 64.18 crore ambitious drinking water project, as per affidavit filed by East Singhbhum district administration before Jharkhand High Court in December last year, was to commence from March 31, 2013.
The project envisaged construction of five water towers in addition to an existing, a new modernised water treatment plant and an intake reservoir on the banks of the Subernarekha with a capacity to supply 48 million litres per day for the next 24 years.

At present, against a demand for 6 million litres per day, residents of Mango get less than 2 million litres per day water from the existing water tower.

The project was mentioned in the 2005-06 budget with an estimated cost of Rs 25 crore. The foundation stone was laid by then Governor K Shankarnarayan in 2009. Its earlier scheduled deadline was August 2011.

The Jharkhand high court, which has been hearing a PIL since August 2012 on the delayed Mango project filed by Jamshedpur-based NGO Bhagwan Birsa Sewa Sansthan, had asked the state drinking water and sanitation department (DW&SD) to file a compliance report by January 2013.

The district administration had filed an affidavit in December 2012 before the High Court that the project would begin by March this year.