The Urban Development Department has expressed concern over existing and creeping settlements in and around the three major reservoirs of Ranchi coming in the way of formulating its approved Master Plan-2037.
The Department, after getting the plan approved by the Cabinet, is now getting ready to take tough action. As per the Master Plan, the three water bodies, namely, Kanke Dam, Rukka Dam and Dhurwa Dam should not have any construction up to 20 metres of their full tank level. The clause has been kept to maintain the natural water flow to the reservoirs so that the city that is expected to house over 31 lakh people in the next 22 years can get necessary water supply.
“We would look into the aspect of unauthorised construction having taken place around the dams and if it is there all such constructions would be removed. The Master Plan has taken into account the flow of water into the dams and is committed to maintain their catchment area,” Urban Development Secretary Arun Kumar Singh told The Pioneer.
Besides getting suffocated under weeds, silt and dumping Kanke Dam is gradually losing its original area of around 9.44 sq miles. DWSD officials admitted that over 20 per cent of the original area of the dam has been encroached upon that is being felt in curtailed supply of rain water flowing into it. “The dam has seen increasing illegal constructions which is growing unchecked. That is the reason why we see just half filled reservoir at present,” said a top official.
Similar is the fate of Getalsud or Rukka Dam that is located on the Subarnarekha river whose catchment area is 717 sq km. Another important dam is Dhurwa that contributes along with the two others immensely in meeting drinking water demands of the city as well as the industrial requirements of the Heavy Engineering Corporation ltd and Sikidri Hydel Project.
“We are aware that there are encroachments around and that would be razed. However, there are also some legal constructions within the defined territory of the dams. The Master Plan has provision that such legal constructions would be evaluated whether those are as per their actual land use. If there is any deviation from the actual land use, then the land would be treated as green belt,” said the Secretary. Ranchi receives about 1000 to 1200 mm rainfall annually but often faces water shortage during summers every year primarily due to insufficient storage.
Thankfully, the plan has sufficient provision for green belts known as ‘lungs of city’ for Ranchi. Besides, reserving 10-15 metres of land on the banks of any river or rivulet for plantation purposes, the Master Plan also makes it mandatory on both the sides of Inner Circular Road and Ring Road.