Chota Govindpur Residents Suffer Water Supply Disruption: 1.5 Lakh Affected

Jamshedpur: Over 1.50 lakh people living in the 22 panchayats in Chota Govindpur area on the outskirts of the Steel City, remained without tap water for the second day in a row. The people living in the southern end of the industrial town, namely Govindpur, Sopodera, Haludbani, Gadra, Pursudih, and Sarjamda, among other places, experienced the woes.The cause is the snapping of the supply for the second time in a row in the past 10 months by the agency which regulates the water supply. The officials of Gemini Enterprises, which supplies water to 22,000 households, said that the drinking water and sanitation department (DWSD) has not cleared the dues of the last 19 months. As a result, the company is experiencing financial distress.“Not only are we experiencing difficulties in paying the salary to the staff but also experiencing woes in regulating the supply system as the company has no money to bear the operational cost,” said Gemini Enterprises official Arun Kumar.

The company has said that dues up to the tune of Rs 3 crore are pending with the department.The officials at the DWSD Jamshedpur division said that earlier in February this year, some amount was paid to the agency and the remaining will be paid soon. “The matter has been taken up with the senior officials in the department for the release of the due funds,” Sunil Kumar, executive engineer, DWSD, told the media. The department officials have urged the private enterprise to restore the water supply on humanitarian grounds.

Meanwhile, a delegation of the panchayat members on Tuesday met DC Karn Satyarthi with a plea to convene a meeting of the stakeholders and settle the matter permanently. “We have urged the DC to hand over the water supply contract to TS UISL (formerly JUSCO) if the issue between the present company and DWSD prolongs,” said Paritosh Singh, who led the delegation to the DC.The residents said that those having water pump facilities managed their needs, but those dependent on the piped water supply faced difficulties. “Some of the residents sourced water from the house of their relatives living in the vicinity, and some bought it from the market,” said Haludbani resident Supriyo Bose.