Jamshedpur MLA Sarju Rai has issued a dire warning: MGM Hospital and Medical College face a severe water crisis by December if immediate remedial measures are not implemented. The hospital’s new Dimna campus is experiencing a significant strain on its water resources due to increased patient load and a larger student population. The five deep borewells installed to serve the hospital, college, and residential blocks are proving woefully inadequate. Compounding the problem, the initiative to draw water from the Subarnarekha River is progressing at a glacial pace. Rai, after consulting with hospital and college authorities, has determined that the current infrastructure cannot sustain the demand, setting a critical deadline for action. The MLA criticized the pervasive political interference in public welfare projects, arguing that it compromises the judgment of senior officials and leads to the deterioration of essential services. He pointed to the controversial inauguration of the new hospital building a year prior, driven by political motives rather than readiness, which lacked even basic water facilities. Rai noted that, instead of informing the Chief Minister about the lack of preparedness, health department officials allegedly facilitated the transfer under pressure. He also recalled the installation of five deep borewells against environmental guidelines at the behest of a former minister, a decision he and environmentalists had warned would be insufficient for the hospital’s needs. Rai expressed apprehension that declining groundwater levels after December will further diminish the borewells’ output, potentially leading to a broader water crisis affecting nearby communities. This situation, he fears, will result in renewed demands to divert the limited municipal water supply to the hospital. To avert this crisis, Rai proposed a direct intervention: seeking the health department secretary to negotiate with Tata Steel for a dedicated water supply from the Dimna Lake pipeline, feeding into the hospital’s water treatment plant.
