Jal Jeevan funds ‘down the drain’, parched Hisar village starts dharna

Deepender Deswal

Hisar, June 16

Upset over the drinking water crisis, residents launched an indefinite dharna at the waterworks in Sulkhani village on Sunday. The villagers, including women, threatened to climb atop the water tank if the district administration fails to solve the problem.

The villagers said they have been taking up the issue with the district administration and the state government for many months, but to no avail. They said despite spending Rs 2.6 crore under the Jal Jeevan Mission, a government scheme under which water is provided to households in villages, the problem of water shortage remains unaddressed.

Salim Sulkhani, a social activist leading the protest, said, “We have been contacting officials of the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED), but they are not listening to the grievance of the villagers.”

Sulkhani said the dharna would continue till the officials visit the village and ensure proper water supply to the village.

He said though infrastructure, including waterworks and water treatment plant, is in place, there is a problem in supplying water from the Balsamand canal to the waterworks at the village. He said this nearly 3-km-long water channel is choked with trash.

The villagers alleged that farmers choke the channel to steal water from it for the irrigation purpose.

Congress leader Krishan Satrod, who is a former Zila Parishad member, has extended support to the dharna. He said it is unfortunate that the government funds under the Jal Jeevan Mission have gone “down the drain” as the villagers are not getting drinking water.

“This seems to be a classic example of laxity on the part of officials in implementing the government scheme. Despite spending the funds, the officials have failed to ensure the availability of water to the villagers. It shows the negligent attitude of the authorities,” he said.

The villagers said they have to fetch water from hand pumps outside the village to meet their needs. Women carry pitchers on their heads to fetch water from the hand pumps, while men bring water in tanks in bullock carts.

Kuldeep Kohar, Sub Divisional Officer, PHED, said they had cleaned the water channel with a jetting machine and there are plans to repair its damaged portions. He said the problem of water shortage will be resolved soon.