Villagers protest fish death in reservoir

Our Correspondent

Abohar, June 12

Bhagsar village residents, supported by the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Kadian), on Tuesday staged a dharna at the office of the Block Development and Panchayat Officer here to protest against the death of fish in the rural water works.

They raised slogans for two hours, but none invited them to discuss the issue. Villagers on Monday had thrown drinking water from their domestic containers fearing contamination.

The Block Development and Panchayat Office had reportedly expressed inability to get the water reservoirs cleaned, citing shortage of funds and advised villagers to take up the job at their own cost.

The protesters met Sub-Divisional Magistrate Poonam Singh and complained about the “apathetic” attitude of BDPO Bhupinder Singh. The SDM summoned the BDPO to record his statement in 24 hours. She also told the Water and Sanitation Department (Public Health) to get the reservoir cleaned soon. She assured the villagers to address the problem on priority. A team of senior officials later inspected the water works and took fresh samples for examination.