Tarn Taran village awaits piped water, undisrupted power supply

Kasel village, which has a population of about 9,500 and is spread over around 4,000 acres, has been facing a number of problems for long. Surjit Kumar Bobby, Nirmal Singh and Ninder Singh, former panchayat members, Nishan Singh and many other residents of the village said the foremost problem is electricity supply as for the last more than 20 years they had not seen a single day of undisrupted power supply.

They said that they have been approaching the leaders of the ruling party and the officials concerned to solve their problems related to power supply by replacing defective power cables, but all their requests have fallen on deaf ears. The village is being supplied power from the power station at Sarai Amanat Khan, 6 km away, but the power lines cover 37 km to reach the village.

The power station is overloaded and the cables need replacement. The residents said that daily at midnight the power supply gets disrupted in this hot weather. They further said that they had filed complaints a number of times, but got no response from the powercom employees.

Another problem faced by the villagers is regular water supply. Gurjagtar Singh, Tejbir Singh and some other residents of the village said that they had lost all hope to get piped water supply restored, especially for the under-privileged families who are dependent on the common water supply system. They said that about 17 years ago initial steps were taken by the Water Supply and Sewerage Department and a water tank was installed along with water pipes in the village. The residents said after some time there was huge leakage in the underground water pipes. Building of many houses developed cracks and residents raised alarm against this as the foundations of many houses also developed cracks. With the threat of house collapse looming large, the supply of water through these pipes lines was stopped.

A number of years have passed since the water supply had been stopped, and now these pipes have been stolen. The residents said that the new tubewell motor has been installed to provide drinking water facility, but due to the run-down state of the old system, it appears almost impossible to bring the old machinery in working condition. The residents said that blockage in the underground pipes add to their woes and they have lost all hope of restoration of the drinking water supply.

Residents further added that as there was no facility of the drainage system to take care of rainwater during monsoon and waste water from the houses, life of the residents has been made hell. Some villagers said that with the water getting stagnant in drains of the village, it has become a health hazard, besides raising a stink. Besides, a bus shed constructed at the village decades back is also in a dilapidated state and its roof too leaks during rain.

The residents also complained that no official from the administration had ever visited their village to listen to their grievances and resolve these.