A critical water shortage is on the horizon for Jamshedpur’s MGM Hospital and Medical College, with MLA Sarju Rai pinpointing December as the deadline for a solution. The new Dimna campus is grappling with significantly increased water consumption following an expansion in college seating and hospital services. The existing water supply, relying on five deep borewells, is insufficient for the hospital, college, and staff residences. Furthermore, the planned water supply project from the Subarnarekha River is progressing far too slowly. Rai’s conversations with hospital and college leadership confirm that without swift intervention, a major water crisis is inevitable. The MLA strongly condemned political interference in development projects, stating that it clouds the judgment of officials and jeopardizes essential services like healthcare. He cited the example of the new hospital building’s premature inauguration last year, driven by electoral considerations, which occurred without essential services like water being fully operational. Rai highlighted how senior health officials allegedly prioritized ministerial directives over ground realities. He also recalled how five deep borewells were installed against environmental regulations, a move he and other experts had warned would not meet the hospital’s long-term needs. Rai expressed concerns that as groundwater levels decrease in the winter months, these borewells will become even less productive. This could lead to a wider water crisis affecting local communities and create pressure to divert citizen drinking water to the hospital. Rai advocates for a practical and sustainable solution: urging the health department secretary to engage with Tata Steel management to secure an adequate water supply from the Dimna Lake pipeline for the hospital’s water treatment plant. This diplomatic approach, he suggests, is the most viable path forward.
