The Jharkhand High Court on Tuesday took suo moto cognizance over encroachment of areas around water bodies at the same time sought action plan from Ranchi Municipal Corporation on tackling water crisis in State Capital, as the region has witnessed scanty rainfall. The Jharkhand High Court has sought a reply from the State Government and the Municipal Corporation within four weeks.
The court has asked the state government that there has been less rainfall so far in the monsoon this year, what is the action plan so that the people of Ranchi do not face drinking water problems. The court has sought response from Ranchi Municipal Corporation regarding removal of encroachment from around the city's water sources such as Kanke Dam, Dhurwa Dam, Getalsud Dam, Hinoo river and directed the civic bodies to ensure that solid and liquid waste entering these water sources are checked.
Earlier, Amicus Curiae Inderjit Singh told the court that this year there has been 27 percent less rainfall in Ranchi in the monsoon, the problem of drinking water will start happening in Ranchi from December this year, in such a situation, it should be clarified how the government will tackle the problem. A division bench headed by High Court Chief Justice Sanjay Kumar Mishra scheduled the hearing of the case on October 31. Advocate LCM Shahdeo appeared on behalf of Ranchi Municipal Corporation.
In the last hearing, the court had asked the state government and Ranchi Municipal Corporation to remove encroachment from around the dam, Dhurva Dam, Getalsud Dam, Hinoo River and Bada Talab. If the encroachment is not removed, the court has also said that it will pass a strict order. . The court had also taken suo motu cognizance of the case of encroachment of land of Ranchi's water sources like Kanke Dam, Dhurva Dam and Getalsud Dam.
Meanwhile, in a big relief to citizens, most places across Jharkhand are expected to experience light to moderate rain today, said a bulletin issued by IMD’s Ranchi Meteorological Centre. The Met Centre also issued an alert of heavy rain at a few isolated places in southern Jharkhand today.
The monsoon trough at mean sea level was passing through Jaisalmer, Ajmer, Shivpuri, Sidhi, Daltonganj, Digha and thence southeast to the east-central Bay of Bengal. The cyclonic circulation over the east-central and adjoining Northeast Bay of Bengal was lying over the northeast and adjoining east-central Bay of Bengal extending up to 5.8 km above mean sea level.
Under its influence, a low-pressure area is likely to form over the northwest Bay of Bengal and the neighbourhood during the next 24 hours. Monsoon activity was weak over Jharkhand during the past 24 hours.
Light to moderate rain was observed at isolated places. Weathermen did not rule out the possibility of heavy rainfall at isolated places over the west and central parts of the state tomorrow. Met statistics suggested that Jharkhand state as a whole was still facing a rainfall deficit of 34 per cent.