ADC, East Singhbhum, Ganesh Kumar (centre) inspects the water treatment plant of Moharda project on Wednesday. Pictures by Bhola Prasad

East Singhbhum district administration has woken up from slumber to fast-track the long-delayed multi-crore Moharda drinking water project that promises to provide piped drinking water to nearly 2.5 lakh people on Jamshedpur’s eastern fringes, including Birsanagar and Baridih.

A four-member team led by additional deputy commissioner (ADC) Ganesh Kumar on Wednesday inspected the site of the Rs 28-crore project, already been delayed for six years, and saw two main tasks were pending.

One is constructing a weir — a barrier smaller than a dam to collect water — and the other is laying of secondary pipelines.

The weir, to trap Subernarekha’s water, is the onus of state minor irrigation department. As of now, the structure is only 70 per cent complete.

After their two-hour-long survey, ADC Kumar directed an accompanying Adityapur official of drinking water and sanitation department, to find out the reason for the delay in the weir’s construction and prepare a revised estimate.

The official has been asked to submit the estimate to Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee for funds sanction from state urban development department within a month.

“The weir is crucial. If there is a weak monsoon and the river’s water level falls, the intake well can’t draw water,” Kumar explained.

About secondary pipelines, JNAC special officer Deepak Sahay has been asked to draw up a fresh detailed project report (DPR) within a week to be sent to state urban development department for funds sanction.

According to Sahay, this project was first conceptualised way back in 1998 and accordingly main pipelines were laid at that time.

“Since 1998, many new houses have come up in the area that are deprived of water connection. Thus the DPR will have to be drawn afresh in order to bring these beneficiaries into the fold,” Sahay said. “As of now, of the 9,500 homes, only 3,524 have water connection.”

ADC Kumar also requested Jharkhand Urja Vikas Nigam Limited to install a vacuum circuit breaker — a gadget to ensure uninterrupted power supply to the water project even if a feeder had a breakdown.

“We will install the vacuum circuit breaker at our Birsanagar substation for uninterrupted supply. Right now, power cuts hamper work at the site. Installation will be over within a week,” said power board executive engineer Vijay Sinha.

Slated to supply 5.5 million litres daily, the project will cater to Birsanagar, Baridih, Bagunnagar, Bagunhatu and Luabasa localities. Its foundation stone was laid by former chief minister Arjun Munda and then urban development minister Raghubar Das in September 2006. It was scheduled to be complete in 2008.

Till date, seven towers, a filtration-cum-treatment plant and an intake well are ready.