The water reservoir at Dahiyawan Tolla Mohalla in Chhapra. Telegraph picture

Chhapra, March 21: Around 25,000 people of Dahiyawan Tola Mohalla were forced to observe a dry Holi, thanks to the prolonged water crisis in the region.

The residents have been facing acute shortage of potable water for the past fortnight.

Sub-divisional officer of public health and engineering department Balvant Singh said a new 30-horse power water pump has been installed at the cost of Rs 4.75 lakh today. The pump will start working soon and the residents would be supplied water within two days.

Most residents complained their Holi was spent fetching water for daily chores. The water crisis has become an everyday problem. People blame the situation on the “apathetic attitude” of the public health and engineering department.

“When the machine at pump house breaks down, the depart-ment takes at least a week to repair it. This causes inconvenience to the residents. Also, most of the time, the machine is out of order,” said a resident.

“The machine is 29-year-old and needs replac ement. Only if the machine is replaced, would it be able to cater to the needs of the people,” a resident told The Telegraph.

Strangely, there has been no outcry from the residents against the hardship that they are facing everyday. Their only wish is that someone should take the responsibility to approach the department and help solve this problem.

Soham Kumar Srivastav, a retired circle inspector, complained before this correspondent that for the past fortnight they have been going without water. To the question whether he has lodged any formal complaint before the concerned department, his reply was “no”.

The water crisis is triggered because of poor system of water storage. The reservoir has the capacity to store 50,000gallon water but the water is supplied directly to houses when there is power supply in the area.

The reason for this was the absence of a “key man” (the man who operates the reservoir) for the past eight years, the resident said, adding the tower built at the cost of Rs 30 lakh in 1982 is now proving to be a white elephant.

The sub-divisional officer told The Telegraph: “The 40-horse power VT pump, installed in 1982, was working fine till recently. But it appears that it has outlived its utility over the years.”