Near normal rainfall this monsoon has ensured that Jamshedpur doesn't face water crisis at least for a year even if there is scanty precipitation in 2017.

After three years, Tata Steel subsidiary Jusco around 10am on Thursday opened two radial gates of the Dimna reservoir as the water crossed the 525ft crest level of the spillway and almost reached the maximum mark of 530ft.

"Now, we have enough water to tide over a hugely deficit monsoon next year. We are monitoring the situation and will close the gates as soon as the water level subsides," said Jusco deputy general manager (water management) R.K. Singh.

Dimna Lake, 13km from the steel city, sprawls over 5.5sqkm and has a water storage capacity of 75.70 million gallons. It is one of the major sources of potable water for residents as well as Tata Steel works.

For the record, Jusco supplies 200 million litres of potable water daily in its command areas. As of now, it offers over 58,000 water connections, catering to a population of over 7 lakh. Water is supplied twice a day for two hours each.

The Dimna reservoir, owned by Tata Steel, became operational in 1944 and has eight radial gates, each 8ft by 30ft in dimension. The length of the dam is 279.57 metres.

Sources in Jusco's water management wing claimed that the lake would be brimming for two years even if monsoon is poor and this augurs well for the steel city, which braved acute water crisis in April this year.

"The level in Subernarekha, which is also a source of potable water, and Dimna Lake reached an all-time low this year, prompting us to ration supply. With Dimna Lake filled to its brim now, the steel city need not worry about water scarcity in the summer of 2017," said a source.

According to data available with the water management wing, the level in Subernarekha river (from where Jusco draws its maximum supply for city use) had reached 394.7ft on April 11, the lowest in three years.

The river's weir level is 394.6ft and if the water drops below that, then it is not possible to draw supply from it. This had forced Jusco to depend on Dimna reservoir till monsoon. Even the dam water level had gone down to 519ft in the summer, the critical level being 510ft.

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