Dams have started drying in Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand state of India.
In all the three big dams namely Kanke Dam, Rukka Dam, and Hatiya Dam the water level has fallen down below the normal level. The conditioning of rationing may emerge up after some days. The general ground water level has started falling down strangely. The condition is very bad in some areas.
That was a time when Ranchi had many big ponds. But the expanding jungle of concrete has swallowed most of them. The remaining ponds do not have water under these conditions if efforts on war footing are not taken up, the condition in coming days is sure to go very bad.
The jungle of concrete in the city has expanded considerably in Ranchi city within last some years. These are sucking the water of the earth. Most of the apartments don’t have water harvesting structures. All the apartments have cemented surroundings due to which water cannot penetrate into ground in surrounding areas also. Most of these apartments have deep bore wells due to which the ground water level in these areas is falling down. People living in these apartments don’t care for the judicious use of ground water. Large volumes of water are wasted in car-washing and other activities.
In Ranchi city there are 10353 apartments. Out of these there are 8196 apartments without water harvesting systems. Due to this, most of the water of these apartments, and also the water that falls from the sky go waste through drainage systems. Had these apartments’ water recharge systems of their own, the water of these apartments had to go deep to recharge ground water.
The Ranchi Municipal Corporation has been repeatedly stating that it would take some big steps to get built water recharge systems in these apartments but no effort has actually been taken up in this direction.
Environmentalists say that if construction of apartments goes on at this speed in Ranchi, the city will soon have to face a serious water crisis. The crisis of water has started in the mid March month this year. Many bore wells and hand pumps have already dried up. The principal water supplier to the city, the Rukka dam has already gone into critical condition.
The district administration of Ranchi has already talked with builders and developers many times. But, builders and developers are careless even on this critical issue. This is the reason why the ground water level in the city is unstable.
About 2157 apartments in the city have water harvesting systems. The Municipal Corporation of Ranchi has been issuing notices to apartments without water harvesting structures but builders are not taking care of.
The distillery pond of Kokar area covers about 52 acres of land but this area has been covered by houses and apartments. Similarly, about a dozen of ponds have been vanished. According to Central Ground Water Board not even 8 percent of water taken out of ground is recharged in the city. Due to this the ground water level is falling down at a fast speed. The condition of ground water level in areas including Kanke Road, Harmu, Hatia, and Doranda is very critical. The ground water level in these areas has fallen down up to 19 meter deep. All the above conditions are leading the city towards a serious water crisis.
Key Words: Water Crisis, Ranchi, Ground Water Level, Deep Boring, Central Ground Water Board
