After power crisis, rural areas in Haryana face potable water shortage

Deepender Deswal

Bhiwani/Hisar/Sirsa, May 3

After severe power crisis, potable water scarcity has aggravated the problems of the people of the state, especially in the rural areas.

According to the reports, there is an acute scarcity of potable water in rural areas as the government-based water supply schemes are also short of water to supply the same to households.

Prioritise residents over farm fields

The Irrigation Department should revise the schedule to release water in canals and prioritise potable water needs of residents over irrigation facilities. Om Prakash, resident of mithi surera village, Sirsa

Shortage due to huge house water tanks

Residents have constructed huge water tanks and installed electric motors to extract more water, which has resulted in shortage in localities on the tail ends. Praveen Kumar, sub divisional officer, Bhiwani PWD

Fed up with the long wait for water, residents are forced to purchase water tankers for Rs 600 to Rs 700.

A day after the residents of Mahjat village locked up the waterworks in Hisar district, residents of Nimdiwali village in Bhiwani district also staged a protest and locked the gates of the waterworks office today.

A villager, Rakesh Arya, said a major chunk of the village had not been getting water supply for many days.

A village panch said there was a technical defect in the water supply lines in north-western localities in the village and thus, a number of households were not getting water.

In Sirsa district, a number of villagers along Rajasthan borders are also facing water crisis for many days now as the waterworks wing of the Public Health Department was not able to provide adequate supply.

Om Prakash, a resident of Mithi Surera village in Sirsa district, said the Irrigation Department should revise the schedule to release water in canals and prioritise potable water needs of residents over irrigation facilities.

The residents of Karamshana village in Sirsa said they were forced to purchase water from water suppliers in Rajasthan.

“The waterworks have dried up in the absence of canal water supply, which feeds the waterworks. Groundwater is not fit for consumption as it contains high TDS,” said Mohan Lal, another resident of Mithi Surera.

Even urban localities are facing the water shortage in the region.

The residents of ward number 10 in Sirsa town said that since they were not getting potable water supply, water tankers should be sent to the locality by the civic body daily.

Several localities in Bhiwani town, especially the ones located on Dhana Road, also complain of not getting adequate water supply, resulting in women rushing to hand pumps to fetch water.

A sub divisional officer of the Bhiwani Public Health Department, Praveen Kumar, said residents had constructed huge water tanks and installed electric motors to extract more water, which had resulted in shortage in localities situated on the tail ends.