Dhanbad: More than 5 lakh residents of Jharia are facing water scarcity for over a month because of a delay in the repair of a 25km pipeline at Patharbangla locality near Bhaga station by Mineral Area Development Authority (Mada) owing to cash crunch.
Jharia residents have been suffering water crisis for over a month because of a leak in the 25km pipeline that supplies water from Jamadoba plant to Jharia.
Expressing concern, former councillor of Ward 37 of Jharia Anup Sao said, "Lesser supply of water creates lower pressure in the pipeline due to which several areas situated on higher altitude such as Upper Rajbari Road, Poddar Para and some parts of Koiribandh do not get any water for 2-3 days in a week."
Sahu said they had taken up the issue with Mada authorities several times, but they had cited funds crunch as the reason behind their inaction.
SDO of Jharia division of Mada Shravan Kumar said the repair work would cost Rs 10 lakh.
"The salaries of our employees are pending for more than 26 months.
Therefore, we are unable to repair the pipeline immediately.
We are waiting for some more funds after which we will issue a tender to implement the project through an agency as we are short-staffed," he said.
Kumar said they were also waiting for the right time to begin the repair work because it would necessitate stoppage of water supply for at least three days.
"Public notices will have to be issued in the newspapers informing people about the disruption of water supply," he said.

ISLAMABAD : The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) to tackle the issue of water scarcity has ordered the immediate construction of Bhasha and Mohmand Dam.
The SC under Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar on Wednesday heard a case related to scarcity of water and construction of new dams.
Water resources are pertinent not only for human lives but for the country’s stability, the court orders said.
It further said that the Council of Common Interest did not express any reservation against Bhasha and Mohmand Dam.
During the hearing of case, the CJP remarked, “How much water are we wasting?” The ministry of power and water responded that water worth millions of dollars is being wasted, adding that in one year 90 million acre-feet water is wasted.
He said that after Tarbela, a new dam should be built every ten years.
According to the ministry of power and water, one million acre-feet water costs $500 million.
During the hearing, the CJP asked why the government does not want dams to be built, to which the officials of the ministry responded that the underlying issue is that it isn’t the government’s priority.

Iranian officials have pledged to resolve water scarcity and increased salinity of municipal water in the southwestern province of Khuzestan by July 6.
Abadan-Khorramshahr water project (photo by Islamic Republic News Agency) Unfounded rumors circulating about water transfer from Karun River in Khuzestan to neighboring countries provided more grounds for the demonstrations.
The rumor was categorically denied by Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian (read related article by Ghanoon daily).
The minister further pledged to resolve the water-related issues by July 6 within the framework of a water project called Ghadir.
Abdollah Sameri, the Khorramshahr representative to the Majlis (parliament), told Mehr news agency that broken water pipes in Hoveyzeh had disrupted treated water flow to the cities of Khorramshahr and Abadan.
Sameri blamed unsustainable agricultural practices for depleting water resources in the area.
He also counted the Persian Gulf sea level rise responsible for affecting freshwater quality, saying it has increased the salinity of coastal the rivers Karun and Arvand.
In the meantime, Khuzestan Governor-General Gholamreza Shariati said that people had been provided with bottled water for drinking over the past few days.
Read related article by Ghanoon daily Deputy Governor-General Faramand Hashemizadeh also explained that there is hope to solve the problem of water salinity by July 6 by transferring water from the Dez Dam to the Karkheh Dam.
… Payvand News – 07/02/18 … —

Chandigarh Satinder Pal Singh Zirakpur, July 2 Residents of Kishanpura village, situated 4 km from Zirakpur, have been waiting for the water supply for the past many decades.
The villagers, especially women, have no option but to dependent on hand pumps or motors for water.
The village is facing water scarcity when several sponsored flagship schemes have been launched for providing basic amenities to downtrodden sections and residents of backward areas.
The villagers said a few families had started migrating because of the water crisis in the area.
Though the village was inducted into the MC jurisdiction in 2004, the residents’ woes have not come to an end.
With no potable water source available in the village, the residents have started digging up their own bore wells.
According to the residents, a tube well was installed 18 months ago, which was inaugurated by local MLA NK Sharma, but the department concerned has not given a power connection.
With the Congress government coming to power, the area councillor, along with residents, is again making the rounds of the department concerned for the power connection.
Councillor Jagdev Singh said, “We have written to the authorities concerned many times in this regard, but to no avail.” He said even students of government elementary school had to drink water from a hand pump installed outside the school.
Though hand pumps are installed, their water is not fit for consumption,” rued Jasveer Kaur, a resident of Kishanpura village.

Protests continued in Iran’s oil-rich Khuzestan province on Monday July 2, in support of protesters in the port city of Khorramshahr.
There have been reports of protest gatherings in Ahvaz, Mahshahr and Sarbandar, as well as of clashes in Abadan, where Iran’s largest oil refinery is located.
The government on Sunday denied reports of one man being killed when security forces opened fire in Khorramshahr Saturday night, but admitted 11 have been injured, some seriously.
As protests usually flare up in the evenings and at night, it is still not clear if incidents happened today, July 2.
Official news agency IRNA reported that late on Sunday night demonstrators chanted “critical slogans” in Abadan; euphemism for slogans against the government and top state officials.
“The police attempted to disperse demonstrators in Abadan, but they fought back by throwing pieces of rocks and wood at the police,” IRNA reported.
Meanwhile, Ali Sari, MP from Ahvaz, told the Iranian Students News Agency ISNA that some towns and cities in Khuzestan province, especially Khorramshahr and Abadan, suffer from serious water shortage.
Sari told another news agency, ILNA (The Iranian Labor News Agency), “Hundreds of protest gatherings are serious indications that there is something wrong in Khuzestan.” Some of the videos released on social media show people chanting slogans in Arabic or complaining in Arabic about their problems, a possible sign that they are frustrated by Iranian officials who have ignored their complaints in Persian.
It is this alarming situation that might have prompted the government to over-react to protests in Khorramshahr, where security forces opened fire at demonstrators and attempted to disperse them by firing tear gas Saturday night.
Videos released on social media also show demonstrators making bonfires to reduce the impact of tear gas.

Gunfire erupted as Iranian security forces confronted protesters early Sunday amid demonstrations over water scarcity in the country’s south, violence that authorities said wounded at least 11 people, mostly police.
The unrest there only compounds the wider unease felt across Iran as it faces an economic crisis sparked by President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw America from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers.
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A deputy to Fazli later said the violence wounded one civilian and 10 police officers, according to the semi-official ISNA news agency.
Exacerbating that unrest is the drought.
Some 230 people were poisoned in Khuzestan province after a 20-hour water outage in Ramhormoz county led to drinking water not being chlorinated, the semi-official Fars news agency reported Sunday.
The protests overnight came after three days of demonstrations last week in Tehran, including protesters confronting police outside parliament and officers firing tear gas at the demonstrators.
At least 25 people were killed and nearly 5,000 arrested during the protests in late December and early January, which took place largely in Iran’s provinces rather than the capital.
Iran’s first Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri on Sunday mocked the U.S. for "begging the Saudis" to increase oil production to drive down rising global oil prices.
Trump claimed Saturday that Saudi Arabia might increase its production by some 2 million barrels of oil a day after a call with King Salman.

Hundreds of demonstrators protesting against shortages of drinking water in southwestern Iran have clashed with police, local media report.
The state-run IRNA news agency said the protesters gathered on June 30 in the city of Khorramshahr, some 650 kilometers from Tehran, chanting slogans against the Iranian authorities.
It said police fired tear gas late in the day as protesters threw rocks and garbage at officers.
Shots could be heard on videos circulated on social media from the protests in the port city that has been the scene of recent demonstrations, along with the nearby city of Abadan.
State television reported on July 1 that "peace had returned" to Khorramshahr and an unspecified number of protesters had been arrested.
It also said that some demonstrators carried firearms.
Critics say mismanagement by the authorities, combined with years of drought, has led to a drop in rivers’ water levels and the groundwater levels in the oil-rich province.
The protests in Khorramshahr also came after three days of demonstrations in Tehran starting from June 24 over the country’s troubled economy.
The rallies included protesters confronting police outside parliament and officers firing tear gas at the demonstrators.
They also led to the temporary closure of the city’s Grand Bazaar, where shopkeepers denounced a sharp fall in the value of the national currency, the rial.

Another fisherman, Ilahi Bakhsh who lives in Doria village close to the sea in Gwadar, complained that he also faces great difficulties in getting safe drinking water.
Though it is estimated that billions of rupees would be invested in Gwadar as part of CPEC, at the moment, the city faces immense issues with water scarcity being the biggest one.
However, in order to meet the water requirements, water is coming through tankers from Turbat’s Mirani Dam, which costs around Rs15,000-18,000.” Sattar also said, “The government provides water via tankers once a week.
Gwadar has three dams.
This desalinated water will later be provided all across Gwadar through tankers.
What does science have to say on drought in Gwadar?
The study classifies droughts into four different categories: meteorological, agricultural, hydrological and socio-economic.
Tahir Rasheed, a senior environmentalist, said the issues of Gwadar are no different from other cities of Balochistan.
This desalinated plant has been functional for the past eight months, but since there is no agreement between the Balochistan government and the Chinese who own the desalination plant, a golden opportunity has been missed.
Bringing water from Mirani Dam to Gwadar for only one year cost two billion rupees.

Nabarangpur: After Mahanadi, neighbouring Chhattisgarh has started construction work of several projects on Tel River adding to the worries of Odisha farmers.
While the Chhattisgarh government has started construction work on a diversion project on Tel River at Amad, around 400 metre away from Chandahandi block of Nabarangpur district of Odisha, at an estimated cost of Rs 18 crore, another barrage is being constructed at the confluence of Tel and Baree rivers.
Besides, Chhattisgarh has plans to construct two canals on Tel River, informed sources.
We are scared as flood water will submerge farmland and the village once these projects get completed,” said Harischandra Sunani, a resident of Khaparadihi village.
“If the neighbouring State increases the dam height by seven feet, flood water will flow into the village and cause heavy damage,” stated Tumukulal Sahu, a farmer.
Moreover, farmers of Odisha will be benefitted with the barrage on Tel River.
“No village from Chhattisgarh and Odisha will be submerged and water level will increase within the Chhattisgarh border.
On the other hand, working president of Odisha Congress, Pradeep Majhi said “Odisha government’s Water Resources department and the Nabarangpur district administration are in deep slumber which is why the Chhattisgarh government has constructed a project at Amad.
We are holding discussions on how to prevent Chandhandi areas from being submerged.
The party will intensify its agitation in coming days.” Odisha Congress chief, Niranjan Patnaik also demanded that the Chief Minister of Odisha should highlight the issue of Chhattisgarh’s barrage construction on Tel River before the Mahanadi tribunal.

The water crisis is in fact the worst we will ever face in the history of India.
Not only will the Swachchh Bharat campaign miss its deadline, many of these toilets are impossible to maintain and clean with the huge water shortage across the country.
The film has a happy ending with the divorce being averted and the CM agreeing to the construction of toilets in the village.
But so many of the toilets constructed are used as storage units.
Moreover, in this story there is no water problem in the village.
We also need storage units for rain and floodwater, which can be used to flush the toilets.
Rainwater can always be used and it’s just a matter of building storage units.
First there is the issue of supply; most of India has not received enough rainfall to restore its groundwater table.
The next issue is that the water is often not clean or reliable and often carries water-related illnesses, according to the data released by the One Drop project.
After spending so much money on building and installing these kiosks, the least the government can do is to make sure that they work!