Drinking Water Dept focuses on inaccessible village

Drinking Water & Sanitation office here in Daltonganj is committed to start work in Kekargarh village under Panki police station where reaching village itself is a hard task as here flows three rivers and one has to cross them to reach it.

A 6,275 population lives here at Kekargarh, which in the year 2016 was taken as model village by a Rajya Sabha MP Dheeraj Sahu. However more than 2 years have elapsed and water supply here is yet to take off.

A K Singh executive engineer of drinking water & sanitation office here said the department is committed to reach piped water here. He said a 12 crore worth scheme is on the anvil here. A Daltonganj based contractor KB Tiwary alias Gandhi  is to undertake this work here said EE Singh.

There will come up here a WTP ( water treatment plant) and ESR (elevated service reservoir).

This correspondent talked to Gandhi on Tuesday when he was sitting with EE Singh in his official chamber who said that there are challenges but he will tide over them and will reach water in Kekargarh.

EE Singh said we had a plan of water supply for Chhaterpur and Panki worth 102 crores but no contractor came forward. He said even contractors of outside Jharkhand did not take part in the bid.

As a result of which he said the department agreed to split this scheme making it a separate one for Chhaterpur worth Rs 60 crore and other for Panki worth 42 crore.

He said this split too has not seen any rush of contractors here. He reminded our Palamu BJP MP V D Ram ji too had inquired from him as to why contractors are not found for water schemes here to which EE said he told him that a negative image of Palamu built up in the past comes in the way.

EE further said to say that there is fear or terror in Palamu now then it is too wrong and too unreal as if one has the determination to work one can go ahead here. On being asked if for cushion money in water schemes here the contractors prefer not coming over here EE Singh said in this department there is not much fight for the cream.

For Chhaterpur Sone water is to be pumped in from Palamu’s Dangwar where flows this big river of Bihar and it has its confluence of Jharkhand’s Koyal river and then this water will be broughtdown to CHhaterpur via Lathiya to Chhaterpur. His department is waiting for more bids to come for this project.

On being asked as to why it gets so late in tender/ response to tender EE said even if there falls just one bid then also there is a whole long procedure to go for another bid as three bid for one scheme is desired most.

On scarcity of water in town Daltonganj EE said this is an enigma as our department releases 4.5 lakh gallons of water every day and as per record of Daltonganj corporation there are just 12,000 water connection holders then where after all this water goes. Water is stolen EE reiterated and during this civic polls here our main water pipe has been holed like a sieve to oblige people or say voters. There are unscrupulous people who suck water from the main/ rising pipe itself and this folly is to .be set right by the corporation itself.