Jamshedpur residents threaten Assembly elections boycott over water crisis

Bagbera Rural Water Supply Scheme remains incomplete through nine years

Ma il News Service

Jamshedpur, August 4: Frustrated by the incompletion of the Bagbera Rural Water Supply Scheme, residents have decided to boycott the upcoming Assembly elections if their water needs were not met. A public meeting, organized by the Gram Vikas Samiti, was held on Sunday in front of the Bagbera Lal Building Durga Mandap, where residents expressed their dissatisfaction with the ongoing water supply issues.

Despite the foundation stone for the Bagbera Water Supply Scheme being laid nine years ago, the project remained incomplete, leaving approximately 1.5 lakh people without access to potable water. Numerous deadlines set by the Drinking Water Sanitation Department had been set but the project remained incomplete. Initially, the department promised water supply by February 2024, and then again by July 2024. With July now over and no water supply in sight, residents had lost their patience.

In 2015, then-Chief Minister Raghubar Das inaugurated the Bagbera Water Supply Scheme, announcing it would be completed within three years. However, due to various challenges and negligence of the Drinking Water and Sanitation Department and the executive agency, the scheme was still not operational. As a result, residents of Bagbera, Ghaghidih, Kitadih, and Karandih were suffering from severe water shortages, with the underground water level dropping to 700-800 feet.

In the Ghaghidih area, residents lined up for water from as early as 4:00 AM. Over the years, they had held numerous protests, including sit-ins, demonstrations, hunger strikes, human chains, water Satyagrah, and marches from Bagbera to Ranchi, all in an effort to get the water supply scheme completed. The district’s Deputy Commissioner had met with officials of the Drinking Water and Sanitation Department and the departmental minister multiple times to hand over demand letters.

Hundreds of residents, including JP Goswami, Shyam Kishore, Parmeshwar Prasad, Ram Prasad Kushwaha, Kishore Yadav, Neeraj Singh, Shivaji Singh, Dharmendra Chauhan, Chaturbhuj Singh, Gurmel Singh, Imam Saheb, Sheikh Salauddin, Bhola Prasad Bhagat, Ramvriksh Sharma, Ashok Singh, Om Prakash Yadav, Manoj Gupta, Manoj Yadav, Bhola Yadav, and Jamuna Yadav, participated in the public in the meeting to voice their concerns and demand action.

They warned that if the water supply was not made available before the upcoming Assembly elections, the residents would be resolute in their decision to boycott the polls.