Around two dozen residents of Birsanagar, Jamshedpur, on Thursday staged a demonstration near the main gate of Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee (JNAC) in Sakchi to protest against supply of dirty water and delay in laying of secondary pipelines under a drinking water project.

With tacit support from the main Opposition party JMM, the agitators, comprising both who are receiving water supply as well as those who are deprived of the facility, complained that two out of the seven water towers built under the ambitious Moharda project had developed cracks, resulting in supply of dirty water to Birsanagar and Baridih areas.

They also said the delay in laying the secondary pipelines had forced many families to go thirsty in the absence of a proper source of potable water this summer.

A pet project of chief minister Raghubar Das, the Rs 28-crore Moharda drinking water project provides piped water to nearly 2 lakh people living on the city's eastern fringes - the home constituency (Jamshedpur East) of Das. With seven towers, a filtration-cum-treatment plant and an intake well, the project supplies 5.5 million litres from Subernarekha to Birsanagar, Baridih, Bagunnagar, Bagunhatu and Luabasa localities daily.

Shouting slogans against JNAC, the executing agency, the agitators alleged that the quality of the water supplied was poor and was not fit for drinking.

"The project was inaugurated merely six months ago (October 2014). But the water, which is being treated at the treatment plant built only a year ago, contains a bad smell and is brownish in colour. After investigation, we found out that two water towers (near Birsanagar zone No. 9 and Birsanagar zone no. 2) have developed cracks, which apparently is leading to contamination," said Pradeep Singh (35), a resident of Birsanagar.

Another protester Shailesh Joseph (54) said most of their neighbours had started getting piped water under this project but they had been left out.

"The chief minister had promised that all residents would get piped water. But we are still dependent on tube wells. During summers, there is no respite for us," said Joseph, who recently took voluntary retirement from Tata Steel.

Accepting the delay, JNAC special officer Deepak Sahay said a detailed project report (DPR) had been forwarded to the drinking water and sanitation department (DW&SD) for approval. "The project was first conceptualised in 1998 and accordingly, the main pipelines were laid as per the original DPR. Since 1998, many new houses have come in these areas. So, we are planning to lay new 60km pipelines to cover all beneficiaries. Once the DPR is approved, the state urban development will release funds for the task," he said.

On the dirty water, Sahay said the executive engineer of the DW&SD Adityapur would be asked to look into the complaint.