Jharkhand: Taps run dry in Chas as water treatment plant develops snag

BOKARO: More than 50,000 people in Chas township are faced with water crisis for a week owing to a snag in the water treatment plant on Damodar river.
The Bokaro Chamber of Commerce and Industries (BCCI) has written to deputy commissioner Rajesh Singh, asking him to step up efforts to solve the crisis. BCCI president Sanjay Baid said, “People here are faced with a water crisis but the administration doesn’t seem to care.”
Chas Municipal Corporation’s CEO Anil Kumar Singh said, “Repair work on the two damaged motors in the plant is underway on a priority basis. For the time being, we have asked the people to use the toilets under our jurisdiction. We have 33 toilets which are equipped with modern facilities.”
The civic body is also supplying water to the residents through tankers but the latter alleged that it is not enough to meet their demands. One Sujit Kumar, who resides in ward 21, said, “Most of the time we are having to purchase water. Sometimes we take the water supplied by CMC but it’s not always feasible to do that. When the tankers arrive in our locality, every one jostles to get his/her share of water, which is risky considering the current Covid situation where maintaining social distancing is mandatory.”
Those who have their own deep boring machines are able to manage though.
There are 168 deep borings in Chas Township, majority of which are defunct as the groundwater level has gone down. Water is supplied through pipelines in more than 6,000 houses across the township, which comprises 35 wards with a total population of 1.25 lakh people.