Women gather near a well that has dried up in Kurpania, Bermo. Picture by Pankaj Singh

A plunging water table has again left Bermo subdivision and its adjoining areas high and dry this summer with residents knocking on the doors of the powers that be to bail them out.

People of 19 panchayats, fed up with the water crisis that becomes acute around this time of the year, shot off a letter to Raj Bhavan, demanding a permanent solution to the problem. The letter to governor Syed Ahmed was sent under the banner of Bermo Nagrik Manch in the second week of May.

On Thursday, Bermo pramukh Girija Devi, senior district board member Aftab Alam and panchayat samiti members met Bokaro DC Arwa Rajkamal, urging him to ensure at least two deep borings in each panchayat, besides supply of water from Tenughat dam, which is just 15km away.

Apart from Bermo township, the other affected areas include Sarabeda, Bandubeda, Gomia, Sadam, Kurpania, Kathara, Dhori Basti, Kadmadih, Singarbera, Rajabera, Hosir and Jaridih.

Although Bermo SDO Anita Sahay has called upon coal companies and power stations, including Tenughat Thermal Power Station, Chandrapura Thermal Power Station, Bokaro, Kargali, Dhori and Kathara collieries, to rush additional water tankers to more than 100 localities, it is not enough to cater to over 2.5 lakh residents. As a result, many are being forced to walk several kilometres to Damodar river in the unbearable heat to fetch water.

“The situation is getting worse with every passing day. I have pleaded with the district administration to try and solve the crisis,” village head of Jaridih (east) Kanchan Devi told The Telegraph.

Unlike Bokaro that receives its daily quota of water from Tenughat dam, Bermo does not have any structured supply system. While CCL provides water to its colliery areas, non-project localities are left to fend for themselves. But with ponds, reservoirs, tube wells and hand pumps running dry, thanks to the water table that has gone down by more than 450 feet over the past five years, people are helpless now.

No wonder, some senior residents of Bermo township like Gautam Mukherjee, R.K. Singh and Parmeshwar Singh questioned if Bokaro steel city could get water from Tenughat canal, which is 34km away, why could not Bermo? “Pipelines should be laid and water supplied to us from Tenughat dam,” Mukherjee demanded.

The newly elected chairman of Phusro municipality, Neel Kanth Ravidas, said: “Bermo has been living with water crisis for several years. CCL, which earns crores from the region, should have looked into this problem long ago. I will take up the issue with district officials and the coal company.”