Mayor-headed team to study water woes in city

The team would comprise- mayor Pushpalatha Chikkanna, city corporation commissioner K S Raykar, representatives of Jamshedpur Utilities and Supply Company (JUSCO) limited and other officers concerned, announced Raykar at the council meeting here on Thursday. The team would inspect localities from Friday.

The council had no other option than taking a call on the issue, as the corporators cutting across party lines levelled allegations on Vani Vilas Water Works (VVWW) of diverting water tankers to commercial establishments, rather than meeting the demand of domestic consumers.

However, majority of BJP councillors led by their opposition leader in the council A B Vidya Urs trooped into the well of the hall and demanded the mayor to take a decision. They were joined by Janata Dal (Secular) councillor R Kempanna and independent R Sunanda Kumar too.

Blame on VVWW

Earlier, when the issue was raised, most of the corporators blamed VVWW for failing to act on par with the requirement. When the executive engineer of the body Subramanya explained that there are 11 dedicated tankers to supply water, it didn’t strike any chord as the councillors were not ready to buy the argument. They contended that most of the officers remain incommunicado. In contrast, JD(S) councillors Sandesh Swamy and K T Chaluvegowda who argued in support of the water works engineer said they have a chart that reads — 15 to 16 loads of water is being supplied to every ward per day.
When BJP councillors walked into the well, Swamy chided that they are protesting against the district administration represented by their own party’s S A Ramdas as in-charge minister.

Ex-mayor affected

What added to the heated situation was former mayor R Purushotham’s grave allegation that nearly 300 houses in his ward alone is deprived of water connection. Moreover, he himself felt the pinch as he had to skip bathing for the day, and attend the council, he said.

In his reply, the MCC commissioner said it is difficult to supply water from water storage tanks alone and the problem has been turning grave for the past one decade. Of 19,700 km of water pipeline, majority is being replaced and the JUSCO has been also asked to equip tankers with GPS to monitor its movement.