Amid the cry for increasing water capacity of all reservoirs across the length and breadth of Jharkhand to address deficiency of water in long run, the much hyped task of desiltation of dams remains a far cry. Even as the department of Water Resources claims that ponds are being cleaned, action is missing on larger reservoirs and so is the explanation for not focusing on the activity that holds answer to problems related to availability of water especially during summer.
Desiltation has been a never done exercise in Jharkhand especially in Ranchi where small water bodies are vanishing due to silt deposited on bed which also reduces the capacity of a water body to recharge underground water table. The fate of all major reservoirs is no different and so is the reason for continuous decline in water storage capacity besides the catchment area. Nonetheless, the department is yet to come out with a proper plan to remove silt from bed of dams and worse the job is going to get more difficult as monsoon is just round the corner. Still, the department is likely to take a concrete decision on the task ever for water bodies of Jharkhand.
“It’s not a baby work. It has to be done through tenders. It’s a massive work and there is way to do this. We are working on that and something will come out in next few days,” said Principal Secretary, Water Resources, Sukhdev Singh. The proposal that the department is likely to implement would focus on carrying out the job in phases and according to monsoon in various regions.
As per the proposal which appears to be in pipeline, desiltation of water bodies is likely to take place during monsoon at places where monsoon fails where as other water bodies will be cleaned in later phases, said Singh. Even as the department claims regular desiltation of ponds, dams that incidentally are the major source of water supply in urban area have not been cleaned and no attempt has ever been made to study the amount of silt deposited on the bed of those dams.
The reason for it flows from the concept of dam design that puts long term perspective ahead of the circumstantial evidences of deteriorating conditions of dams. The department of Water Resources holds the view that most of the major water bodies are free from silt, a view developed on cursory glance of dams during summer.
“A dam is designed for at least 50 years and all the inlets are designed based on the long term perspective. Silt would not have deposited that much. Still we can see marks of construction activities of Dhurwa dam when the water level goes down during summer. Moreover, silt has never been a problem for water bodies and encroachment is the bigger problem,” said Engineer-in-Chief (II) of Water Resources, RS Tigga.
However, according to sources close to Minister, Water Resources, CP Chaudhary, the department would begin the exercise with forming a team of experts and officials of the department which will inspect water bodies to prepare estimates for the herculean task of cleaning silt has deposited over several decade.
Notably, three major water reservoirs in Ranchi—Getalsud dam, Kanke dam and Hatia dam—have suffered the consequences of lack of cleaning exercises as vast lands of these dams are occupied by hyacinth and a large portion has given way to solid land thus shrinking the catchment area. The Minister has been very categorical about cleanliness of water bodies and has directed officials to prepare a blue print for carrying out the exercise, said the Minister’s aide.