Nawada to get Ganga water in 2nd phase of water lift scheme

NAWADA: Nawada, which will get Ganga water for drinking purpose in the second phase, is at the heart of the state government’s ambitious Ganga Udvah Yojna (Ganga water lift scheme) under the umbrella of the ‘Jal Jeevan Hariyali Abhiyan’. The scheme is aimed at minimizing the ill-effects of climate change and providing clean drinking water to water-deficient districts like Nalanda, Nawada and Gaya in south Bihar.
All the major processes involved in making the Ganga raw water clean and potable for the people are performed at Nawada at the 6.5-acre Ganga water detention centre at Motnaje under Nardiganj police station in the district. Geographically, the Giriak mountain serves as the boundary wall dividing Nawada and Nalanda districts near Nardiganj. On one side is the sprawling 12.34 lakh sq metre and 17-metre-deep raw Ganga water catchment area of Ghora Katora Lake in Rajgir and on the other side of this mountain lies the Motnaje’s 78.5ML detention tank.
Since Ghora Katora Lake is geographically located at a slightly higher altitude, it releases raw water to Motnaje detention centre and water treatment plant (WTP) for cleaning, chlorination and filtration. At Motnaje WTP, the raw water is subjected to various processes before 135-lakh-litre clean drinking water is finally supplied to Rajgir roundthe clock through three massive pumps. Three pumps supply only raw water to Tetar and Manpur area for Gaya and Bodh Gaya.
Motnaje site project manager, V S Rao, said the project was being executed by the Andhra Pradesh-based Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited. “Although it is the first water lifting scheme for Bihar, it’s not the first for Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited. The company had already successfully executed similar projects in Telegana by lifting raw water from Godavri river to Rayalaseema and converting it into clean drinking water,” Rao said.
Talking about his work experience in Bihar, Rao said the multi-thousand crore project was started in 2019 and 1,000 engineers and workers continued their work even during the Covid pandemic. “In January this year, local ruffians interfered in construction of the site’s boundary wall at Motnaje. However, the police intervened and the boundary wall was finally built,” he added.
However, Kumar Vishwabihari, an engineer involved in the project, said despite pleas to the state government, no step was taken to stop stray cattle from entering the Ghora Katora lake area from the mountains.
Under the ambitious water lift scheme, surplus Ganga water at Mokama in Patna district is diverted via a canal to Hathidah Ghat and from Hathidah, the water is lifted by three megawatt pumps and supplied to Rajgir and Motnaje via 2.4-metre diameter pipes (92km from Hathidah) and to Tetar, Manpur, Abgilla (Gaya district) covering a distance of 151km from Hathidah.
“As for Nawada, from Motnaje filtration site, only potable water would be pumped to Paura storage tank along the Sakri river and from here, it would be pumped to Nawada town,” said Ravi Kumar, the site manager at Paura.