Ranchi: The drinking water and sanitation department will partner with four premier educational institutions to address Jharkhand’s water crisis and strengthen rural water supply systems.The decision was taken at a high-level review meeting on the department’s operations and maintenance (O&M) policy on Friday. The meeting was chaired by department secretary Abu Imran and attended by senior faculty members and experts from IIT(ISM), Dhanbad, Ranchi University and Nirmala College, Ranchi, and BIT Mesra.Imran said the collaboration with leading academic institutions would improve the implementation of departmental schemes and help ensure a regular supply of clean drinking water to households. “Formal memorandums of understanding (MoUs) will soon be signed with all three institutions,” he said.A major focus of the partnership will be to prepare an action plan to address the impact of environmental degradation on water sources, particularly in heavily mined areas such as Dhanbad and Jharia. The aim is to develop sustainable, long-term measures to protect vulnerable water reservoirs.Under the proposed framework, IIT(ISM), Dhanbad, and the three other institutions will provide technical support in areas such as advanced pipeline leak detection, improved designs for new water supply networks and solutions to operational and maintenance related challenges.The institutions will also undertake joint research on the high levels of iron, fluoride and total dissolved solids (TDS) found in water sources in several districts.Officials said the partnership would improve the planning, implementation and maintenance of water supply schemes, while ensuring that technical decisions take into account local conditions in villages across the state.
