Residents queue up to collect water at Haziganj in Patna City on Monday. Picture by Sachin

Overburdened with the demand for water in summer and plagued with frequent power cuts, a large number of borewells in the city have turned defunct. Few others have developed snags and are functioning below par, leaving residents thirsty.

There are 116 borings in the Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) area. Of them, 96 were functional before the summer set in. Now, half the borewells are kaput or are functioning well below their capacity, resulting in severe water crisis in the areas dependent on Bihar Rajya Jal Parshad (BRJP) for water.

Officials in the PMC and the BRJP attributed the problem to frequent power cuts, low voltage and increased demand.

“Several borewells developed snag because of overburden, while many others failed to cope with voltage fluctuations and frequent power cuts,” said Ram Swarath Singh, the chief engineer of the BRJP.

Admitting that the situation was bad, officials said the BRJP had been supplying about 40 lakh gallons of water every hour for the past few weeks against the demand of 56 lakh gallons per hour.

“Complaints are pouring in from the areas dependent on the BRJP for water. These places include Patna City, Digha, Jakkanpur and Mithapur,” said Singh.

Radha Sharan, a resident of Postal Park Colony, said: “We went to the water board office several times, asking officials to address the chronic problem of water scarcity in the area. But nothing has happened so far. As a result, many people in the neighbourhood are forced to use water of the lone handpump that serves to about 50 houses here.”

The PMC had to send water tankers to several localities to meet the residents’ demands. While the civic body does not charge anything for this service, the private tanker owners are making hay this summer. They charge between Rs 200 and Rs 500 for water tankers.

Besides the scarcity of water, muddy water is giving tough times to citizens. Officials blamed the dipping water table for the mess and projected the water supply and distribution overhaul plan as the only ray of hope.

Shashank Shekhar Sinha, the executive officer of the New Capital circle, said: “Once the city’s water supply and distribution system is overhauled, these problems will be over. Till then, summers will bring their quota of problems. Tender for the project has been floated and we are expecting the work to begin in a few months. The project will be fully operational at least after two years.”