Everyone is facing the problem of water supply. Various preparations were made regarding this, and then rules were also made. Among these, the biggest step was taken that rain water harvesting was made necessary in every house. For not making it, one and a half times holding tax was charged as a penalty, along with it it was decided that without it the map of any house or apartment would not be passed.
On the other hand, all the government offices were asked to make it under any circumstances. Money was also given to all the offices for this. A campaign was launched in Dhanbad regarding this. During this, lakhs of saplings were also planted. Lakhs of rupees were spent on all this and in the year 2019, Dhanbad got first place in the state under Jal Shakti Abhiyan. Municipal Corporation has been made its nodal agency for everything to be fine in the urban area.
But when Prabhat Khabar’s team inspected various important offices of the district on Thursday to take stock of the pre-monsoon preparations, the reality came to the fore. Somewhere the water harvesting system is not built, and in some places it is not being used even after years of being built. The system of rain water harvesting had failed in most of the places. Somewhere the garbage was being dumped, and somewhere the pipe coming from the roof was not connected to it. In fact, in the year 2019, some work was done on paper, and somehow, no stone was left unturned for its maintenance. Because of this everything became clear and disturbances were found everywhere. Read Team Prabhat Khabar’s investigation.
Two plans in the collectorate, one broken chairs, the other became a place to keep the pot
Two schemes of rain water harvesting were taken up in Dhanbad Collectorate in the financial year 2005-06. The cost of one plan was Rs.64,500. In the name of work, a 79.5 feet deep pit was dug and plastered over it. But the work of connecting it with the roof of the collectorate through the pipeline has not been completed till date. The extent is that now broken chairs and other garbage items are kept on one rain waster harvesting, while on the other a pot with plants has been decorated. Neither of the two is being used. Rain water is just getting wasted.
Mixed Building: Two Rainwater Harvesting Schemes, Both Fail
Two schemes of rain water harvesting were also taken up in the mixed building. The work of both was also done, but the condition of both is bad. Both are open. Garbage is thrown around. There are plastic bottles and other garbage inside the pit, while the rule is that only clean water should go inside through rain water harvesting. There are offices of more than two dozen departments of the state government in this building.
where the team of prabhat khabar went
The team of Prabhat Khabar on Thursday inspected rain water harvesting in the Collectorate, Senior Superintendent of Police, Dhanbad Municipal Corporation, Mixed Building, Jamada Office and SNMMCH. Rain water harvesting was not found in working condition anywhere.
big question
When common people have to pay one and a half times more holding tax for not making rain water harvesting, then why this rule does not apply to government offices
Punishment for common people, pardon for gentlemen
The Municipal Corporation charges one and a half times the holding tax if a house or multi-storey building with an area of 300 square meters does not have a rainwater harvesting system. This arrangement is under Jharkhand Building Bylaws, but there is no provision for government offices.
Due to the kindness of the Municipal Corporation, there is no arrangement in 9184 houses in the urban area.
Under the Jharkhand Building Bylaws 2016, the map will not be passed without rain water harvesting, but it is not followed in the Municipal Corporation. Rain water harvesting is not available in 50 percent of the city’s apartments, while it is shown in the project map. With the connivance of the engineer and the builder, the map is passed without checking it. Even later there is no investigation. For this reason, in the year 2019, when 22669 houses were surveyed in the order of Jal Shakti Abhiyan, 9184 apartments and houses with an area of more than 3000 square meters were found without rain water harvesting.
