After three-year wait, tap water reaches 400 houses in Jamshedpur’s Safiganj

Jamshedpur: After a three-year wait, residents of over 400 houses in Safiganj Mohalla under the Jugsalai Municipal Council (JMC) limits finally received tap water.The JMC’s drinking water department laid a new pipeline after two days of intensive groundwork and began supplying water on Thursday evening. More than 2,000 residents, who had faced severe difficulties due to the absence of regular running water, celebrated as water started flowing from their taps.Earlier, a single pipeline served two adjoining residential colonies — Chaparia Mohalla and Safiganj Mohalla — but due to a fault in installation, Safiganj residents received little to no water. Though the issue was repeatedly brought to the civic body’s notice, it remained unresolved for years.“We organised agitations and submitted representations to the officials to press for our demands. In the meantime, we arranged water tankers, and several households had to purchase potable drinking water to meet their daily domestic needs,” said Chandra Pathak, president of the Thakur Ji Pathak Welfare Society, which led several protests seeking a separate pipeline.“We just cannot express in words how relieved we are. For three consecutive years, we struggled for water every single day,” said Shailendra Singh, president of the Nagarik Sangharsh Samiti (NSS), which campaigned for a dedicated pipeline for Safiganj throughout the period.JMC vice-chairperson Archana Dubey said that in the governing body’s first meeting in March, municipal officials were instructed to prioritise the Safiganj water crisis. Earlier this month, deputy commissioner Rajiv Ranjan also directed municipal officials to implement remedial measures to address residents’ water issues for the summer.Following these directives, the municipal body acted, and the long-pending demand was met.