Adityapur residents are likely to get a proper sewage system in their households from March next year, something which was a long-cherished dream of the people of this township.
As the ongoing work of a mega sewage system is nearing its completion, over two lakh residents of Adityapur and parts of adjoining Gamharia that fall under Adityapur Municipal Corporation (AMC) will get rid of the septic tank in their houses.
But this ambitious project will provide the service to only 75 percent of the households as work in one of the four proposed sewage treatment plants (STPs) remains yet to begin due to the encroachment hurdle.
Revealing about the Rs 255 crore worth sewage project, AMC's city manager Ajay Kumar pointed out that over 90 percent of the project work has been completed and that by the end of March 2021, a proper sewage system will be in place in over 50,000 households herein Adityapur and parts of Gamharia.
"Under the sewage project, the executing agency Shapoorji Pallonji was to set up four STPs and lay a sewage pipeline across the AMC area. The construction of the STP near the railway station in Gamharia, Surya Mandir and Sapra both in Adityapur are almost complete, but the work of another STP proposed to be set up at Saldih Bustee, also in Adityapur, has not begun yet due to encroachment problem," said Kumar while talking to The Telegraph Online.
The city manager said the plot of land at Saldih Bustee where an STP was to be set up has encroached. He pointed out that 17 houses have been built on the government land without permission and the encroachers are resisting the administration's step to remove the encroachment for setting up the STP there.
"The AMC has, therefore, decided that the STPs whose work is almost complete may be made functional by the end of March, providing the sewage facility to over 75 percent of households. The work at the Saldih Bustee site will begin only after the place is made free from the encroachment," said the city manager. He informed that the executing agency has already been given a one-year extension for completing the STP construction at Saldih Bustee.
Significantly, sources revealed that the work for the STP at the Saldih site is unlikely to begin in the near future.
"The issue of setting up STP at Saldih Bustee site has become politically entangled. Earlier when BJP-led government was in the state, the former chief minister Raghubar Das did not permit the local administration to use force against the encroachers, given the assembly elections in 2019, but after the Hemant Soren-led coalition government came to power, the encroachers got further emboldened as they are JMM supporters and Adityapur being represented by senior JMM leader Champai Soren. Under the present circumstances, the local administration is reluctant to even think about dislodging those who have encroached upon the government land at Saldih Bustee," said a source in the AMC.
The commencement of a sewage system in Adityapur is certain to give a face-lift to the township which is considered stinky and shabby in absence of a proper sewage system.
"We had never thought of a toilet at our house with a proper sewage system like the one set up in the adjoining steel city. But now our Adityapur will become a cleaner town," said Ram Gyani Sahee, a resident of Adityapur while talking to this website.