One of the water towers of Ashok Nagar. Picture by Hardeep Singh

Scarcity of water is one of the most serious problems faced by residents of the capital. Ashok Nagar too is plagued by the problem, though the situation is not as bad as many other localities in the city.

Although the Ashok Nagar society boasts of two big water towers, besides getting 50,000 gallons of water every day from the public health engineering department (PHED), one wonders why almost every house in the colony has its own deep borewell?

“Though the society has two big water towers, they are not enough to meet the needs of the people in the area and hence people here have deep borewells in their houses,” said A.K. Sharma, a retired IAS officer and a resident of the area.

The two water towers have a capacity of 1,50,000 gallons of water each. There are about a dozen deep borewells that draw water for the towers. The water towers are managed by the society itself.

Apart from this, the society gets about 50,000 gallons of water from the PHED. “We pay the PHED Rs 8 per one thousand gallons of water,” said Arun Kumar, vice-president of the society.

The residents are far from happy about the role — or rather the absence of any role — of the Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) in the area. According to them, the civic body renders no service in the area and yet charges a salami of Rs 6,50,000 from the residents every year.

“We have to pay the RMC such an hefty amount just because we come under their area. But they have done nothing for us to prove on their behalf that this locality is under them,” said the vice-president of the society.

Ashok Nagar was planned by the CMEC, a consultant, in such a way that it slopes down towards the river that flows behind the society. This prevents waterlogging. “Moreover, we ensure regular cleaning of drains,” said R.R.Prasad, secretary of the society.

The colony has 12 km of good roads, which are maintained by the society.