Jamshedpur: Bagbera residents stage protest over delayed water supply project

Mail News Service

Jamshedpur, June 19: Frustrated by years of delay in the implementation of the Bagbera Rural Water Supply Scheme, residents led by Bagbera Mahanagar Vikas Samiti president Subodh Jha staged a protest at the office of the Drinking Water and Sanitation Department on Thursday, demanding immediate action and accountability.
Jha alleged that in 2015-16, hundreds of households in Ramnagar and Lakariya Bagan settlements had deposited Rs 450 each for water connections through the local panchayat and concerned department officials. However, even after more than a decade, neither has a pipeline network been laid in several areas nor has water been supplied under the scheme.
He claimed that residents have repeatedly been given assurances and deadlines, but the project remains incomplete. Jha further alleged that misleading information was being provided to both the public and higher authorities regarding the progress of the scheme.
A delegation comprising local residents, including a large number of women, first met the Deputy Commissioner and submitted their grievances. Taking cognizance of the issue, the Deputy Commissioner reportedly contacted Executive Engineer Sumit Kumar and directed the department to resolve the matter at the earliest.
During the course of discussions, Sumit Kumar clarified that the project did not fall under his jurisdiction and informed officials concerned about the Deputy Commissioner’s directions. Subsequently, residents proceeded to the Drinking Water and Sanitation Department office and staged a demonstration.
In the absence of Executive Engineer Sunil Kumar, who was attending a meeting in Ranchi, Sub-Divisional Officer Shiv Kumar Dinkar personally met the delegation and held detailed discussions with them. The residents submitted a memorandum bearing signatures of hundreds of affected families, along with copies of payment receipts for water connections and Aadhaar cards.
Addressing the gathering, Dinkar assured the residents that work on laying pipelines up to the filtration plant would be completed by July. He further stated that water supply from one overhead tank would commence before August 15, benefiting around 2,000 households in the area.
The officer also assured that pending pipeline work in Lakariya Bagan and Ramnagar would be taken up after reviewing the project layout with the contractor, with completion targeted by the end of July.
The assurances given by officials have raised fresh hopes among residents, who now await tangible progress on a project that has remained pending for over a decade.