Jamshedpur: With the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College and Hospital (MGMMCH) grappling with insufficient water supply, East Singhbhum deputy commissioner Rajiv Ranjan on Monday directed the Mango Municipal Corporation (MMC) to immediately increase its daily tankers from 8 to 15.He also directed MMC in-charge deputy municipal commissioner, Krishna Kumar, to ensure that the private agency executing the hospital’s pipeline project finish the work by June 15.The ongoing water crisis is posing problems for patients and attendants and also forcing the hospital to defer many surgeries, sources said.Over 30 critical operations were cancelled or deferred in the last four months due to water constraints, which also disrupted daily cleaning work, the sources said. OPD visitors were forced to carry their own bottles, while patients had to frequently arrange water from outside.The Rs 8.69-crore project involves laying a 3.5 km dedicated pipeline from Sankosai in Mango to MGMMCH campus in Dimna. Once operational, the system will pump 3 million litres of water daily (MLD) directly from the Subernarekha river to the hospital.Although construction began in Jan and scheduled for an April completion, slow execution may push the deadline to the end of June or early July.“Finding no response to my repeated requests to speed up construction, I wrote to the DC twice to intervene in the matter,” said MGMMCH principal Dr Sanjay Kumar.Following the DC’s intervention, the hospital staff expressed that the situation is expected to improve soon.The 750-bed hospital has faced severe water shortage since its inauguration in June 2025.Currently, the facility receives only about 2 MLD of water from its seven borewells, which is supplemented by 8 water tankers provided daily by MMC.However, the hospital requires more than 3 MLD daily to meet its clinical needs, including surgeries, as well as for drinking, cleaning and sanitation.