Even as the two prominent dams — Rukka and Kanke — boast of ample availability of water to meet the daily requirement of a major portion of the city, Hatia dam stands in contrast as environmentalists blame development projects choking the reservoir to death by blocking flow of water into the dam and providing passage to water is being suggested as the only recourse to the problem that is affecting supply to a major part of the city.
The Ring Road that passes through the catchment area of the dam is the villain in this case as several attempts to draw attention towards the apparent negligence of environmental concerns were kept aside when the road was being constructed.
“The only thing that is needed to be done is to provide waterways for water to flow into the dam. Wherever water has been diverted, it needs to be re-routed towards the dam,” said Food and Civil Supplies Minister Saryu Roy, who is spearheading a campaign to conserve water sources.
Roy, who had started ‘Damodar Bachao Andolan’ to save the river from extinction, expressed that development projects especially road construction often ignores environmental concerns that causes a negative effect on the surroundings. Roy had written numerous letters to the then Development Secretary, Sudhir Prasad, however, the important concern failed to generate any response to the problem.
“Hatia dam is one example of negligence of development projects. I had written letters to draw attention towards insufficient waterways which was taken up by authorities but don’t know what happened thereafter,” added Roy. Meanwhile, erratic distribution of rainfall and small catchment are the reasons for plummeting water table in Hatia dam confirms the latest findings of Drinking Water and Sanitation Department which was arrived at after a thorough verification was conducted by the Ranchi Municipal Corporation at the behest of the department.
A survey was conducted by the RMC few days ago to solve the mystery behind shrinking water table of the dam and also to explore element of truth in various theories suggested for falling water level. Notwithstanding the perils of construction, the department asserted that the reason is rooted more in the spatial distribution of rain than any other factor. “Nagri block had experienced less rainfall this year compared to previous year. Hatia dam’s catchment area is small and it experienced 650mm of rain compared to 1500mm of previous year. These are primarily the reasons for low water level this year than previous year,” said Secretary of DWSD, AP Singh.
The findings of the DWSD and RMC centered on the rainfall figures for previous two years in the region that counters the conjecture that the flow of water into the dam has been greatly affected due to road construction work in the catchment area. Small check dams and similar reservoirs were blamed by the department for the obstruction to flow of water into the dam rather than the development projects. “Water used to flow through many routes however those are now obstructed as people create check dams or water shed is developed. Although it impacts flow to a small extent, the primary reason for low water level is the low rainfall in the catchment area,” maintained Singh.