MANOJ SINHA
Ramgarh, May 17: West Bokaro Division of Tata Steel has taken several initiatives to provide adequate infrastructure to extend water supply to villages in its vicinity where some source of raw water is available.
One such example is the Bhelgadha Water Treatment Plant. The plant gets its raw-water supply from Karamanala located near Mukundabeda. The plant comprises a raw-water reservoir, followed by a multigrade sand filter, a softener and a UV system. The treated water is collected and supplied to Bhelgadha R&R Colony and Daudnagar villages, which cover a population of around 2800. The water treatment plant has a discharge capacity of 12900 cubic litres per month (m3/h). The company invests a huge amount in the maintenance and operation of the water treatment plant. This ensures a uniform supply of clean drinking water to all villages.
Two other water treatment plants, the Bokaro River Water Treatment Plant and the Bunji Water Treatment Plant, supply water to more than 10 villages, covering a population of over 6000.
Sharing his views, Bilason Hembram, a resident of Bhelgadha in Kedla North Panchayat, said, “Earlier, the availability of clean drinking water in the surrounding area was inadequate, we had to travel a long distance. Thanks to Tata Steel Foundation, the social arm of Tata Steel, we have now been given a tap connection and now we have regular access to clean water, which we are very happy about”.
Naveen Kumar, a resident of Kedla North Panchayat, Bhelgadha, expressed his views and said, “Earlier water was not available and its quality was also not good. But now the company is supplying us clean water through this plant, whose quality is just like RO”.
Tata Steel Foundation, the CSR implementation arm of Tata Steel is taking care of the maintenance, cleaning and operation of both the water treatment plants. The plants were originally set up by Tata Steel Limited.
