One month since its beginning and monsoon round the corner, de-siltation work at Kanke Dam and Hatia Dam is looking towards timely completion with remaining work to be finished within the next fortnight, claim Drinking Water and Sanitation Department officials.
De-siltation and deepening of the two water reservoirs feeding Ranchi’s water supply started in the latter half of April following a visit from Chief Minister Raghubar Das considering the rapidly receding water volume there after a long dry spell last year.
The CM’s orders were to kick-start work in right earnest and finish it on war-footing before the onset of monsoon. Phase-I target of removing 50,000 cubic metres silt from each of the dams achieved earlier this month. With additional resources at their disposal in Phase-II, officials supervising the project assure to abide by this deadline.
“Around 70,000 cubic metres of silt and soil has already been removed from Hatia Dam against the target of 2.5 lakh cubic metres for Phase-II. The rest will be excavated within next 15 days,” stated department’s Executive Engineer KK Verma, who is overseeing work there.
The team at Hatia Dam is presently working with seven pokeland machines, 35 dumper trucks and up to three bulldozers. The group at Kanke Dam is using three pokeland machines, 10 dumper trucks and 45 to 50 tractors.
“We have dug up another 50,000 cubic metres silt after Phase-I and we are supposed to clear 1.25 lakhs cubic metres. The lion’s share of the job is done and we now have to dig two to four feet deep only, depending on the spot,” informed Badri Narayan, supervising machines at Kanke Dam.
He further said, “The remaining work at the dam will be over in the next coming days. Work around the inlet canal for the dam is complete too. It has been cleared of debris and obstructions and awaits final verification.”
The two inlets to Hatia Dam, blocked during the construction of Ring Road, had also been cleared to allow water to recharge the reservoir. With the predictions of a better monsoon this year after two disappointing ones, the dams are expected to hold water equal to their increased capacities, which will be at least twice their actual capacities, claim officials.
“At places, we have taken out 7 to 8 feet of soil and silt and are clearing away water hyacinths. After the de-siltation project is over, the total capacity of Kanke Dam will be almost twice what it used to be,” Narayan stated.
This will spell relief for 11 lakh denizens of Ranchi who are dependent on these two water bodies for their daily supply of water.