Namdhari: No summer gift?

Daltonganj, June 7: State Assembly Speaker and local legislator Inder Singh Namdhari declared today that the new water supply project, launched to supply water to the people of Daltonganj, will be completed by August.

The company, which undertook the project, was instructed by Namdhari to expedite work so that supply of water can begin from August.

However, for the people of Daltonganj, who suffered acute water crisis through the long summer months, it would have been a better gift in summer, rather than in August, when the monsoon will set in and the groundwater level will rise automatically.

Many hotels and tea stalls were forced to close down due to water shortage. Bharat Prasad, a roadside Chinese food seller near Zila School Chowk, manages to open his shop only once a week. “I need water to boil noodles and prepare the chicken gravy. Besides, customers also need water. The dishes must also be washed properly before serving. Where will I get so much water? So I can’t run my shop daily,” Prasad said.

Zila School Chowk, one of the most crowded areas of Daltongonj, has a single hand pump. People queue up under the blazing sun to fetch a bucket of water.

“Often the pump used to stop supplying water after filling up a single bucket. How can a single pump suffice for so many people? I can’t depend on it to run my shop. I open my shop only when I manage to store enough water,” said Bharat.

“What’s the use of supplying water in August? The groundwater level will be rise naturally due to rainfall. This should have come in the last three months when we suffered water crisis,” he added.

The Daltonganj water supply project which had an estimated cost of Rs 10.5 crore, was due to begin from May. However, the pace of work slackened due to delayed payments. Even after completing 80 per cent work, the Calcutta-based company received only 25 per cent of the required payments from the state government.

Namdhari said the deadlock over the matter of payments has been cleared and the government has paid Rs 2.75 crores to the company. “Now only the work of digging a jack well in Koel river is pending. A meeting will soon be held for that,” he added.