A critical water shortage looms over MGM Hospital and Medical College in Jamshedpur, according to local MLA Sarju Rai. The new campus in Dimna is struggling with an escalating demand for water, driven by increased student admissions and expanded hospital services. The existing five deep borewells are no longer sufficient to supply the hospital, college, and associated residential facilities. A crucial project to bring water from the Subarnarekha River has stalled, leading to the stark warning that the situation could become dire by December if prompt action isn’t taken. Mr. Rai expressed dismay at how political interference and self-serving interests impede essential public health projects. He recounted how the new hospital building was inaugurated prematurely before basic facilities like water were in place, solely to capitalize on political sentiment during elections. Senior health officials, he lamented, succumbed to political pressure instead of upholding objective decision-making. Rai also highlighted a past instance where a former minister disregarded environmental norms by ordering the installation of five deep borewells, a short-sighted solution that experts had predicted would fail. Now, with the hospital superintendent and college principal voicing concerns, Rai attributes the crisis to the same political meddling that has plagued development initiatives. He expressed concern that the depletion of groundwater levels post-December could render the borewells ineffective, potentially impacting local water tables and creating a wider drinking water crisis. This could lead to renewed pressure to divert municipal water supply meant for residents to the hospital. As a practical alternative, Rai suggested a high-level discussion between the health department secretary and Tata Steel to secure an adequate water supply from the Dimna Lake pipeline for the hospital’s treatment plant.
