No let-up in water crisis: Hisar residents

Tribune News Service

Hisar, July 22

The issue of water shortage in several villages located along the Rajasthan border in Hisar’s Adampur and the Nalwa assembly segments has gained momentum, with newly elected Hisar MP Brijendra Singh taking up the demand for the inclusion of the region in the Centre’s irrigation scheme in the Lok Sabha.

The villagers in the region alleged that they had received any relief as there had been no improvement in the water supply despite prolonged agitation by villagers under the banner of the Jal Sangharsh Samiti in 2017-18.

The MP, in his debut speech in the Lok Sabha, stated that about 100 villages of the Hisar Lok Sabha constituency had been facing water shortage. He said about 20 villages in the Nalwa and Adampur segments were the worst hit by the shortage of irrigation and potable water. He demanded inclusion of these villages in the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY), stating that 29 villages of the region were included in the Integrated Water Management Programme (IWMP), which had been merged in the PMKSY.

Stating that 20 villages located at the tail end were not getting adequate water, Brijendra urged the Water Resources Minister to cover these villages under the Central scheme, with slight amendments to the scheme for the benefit of villages.

Residents of these villages, comprising Budak, Bandaheri, Balsamand, Sundawas, Sasrana, Gawar, Bachra and others, had staged a 44-day dharna from January to February in 2018 for increasing the canal water supply. After the intervention of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, a committee, comprising representatives of the Jal Sangharsh Samiti that spearheaded the stir, district administration and the BJP leaders, was formed to resolve the problem.

Kurda Ram Nambardar, pradhan of the Jal Sangharsh Samiti, however told The Tribune today that there had been hardly any improvement in the water situation in these villages. “The committee has held several meetings to find a solution. The administrative officials have been giving assurances that canals and distributaries were being remodelled to improve the capacity to fetch more water to villages. We were assured by the Chief Minister that the issue would be resolved in six months, but it’s been more than one and a half years now. The residents are still forced to purchase water from tankers,” he said, maintaining that the authorities had been assuring that three canals — Barwala branch, Balsamand branch and New Siwani feeder — would be remodelled soon.

Reacting to Brijendra’s statement in the Lok Sabha, former MP and JJP leader Dushyant Chautala hit out at the state government, alleging that the Chief Minister had been boasting about ensuring water to the tail end in the entire state, but their party MP had exposed the CM’s claims.

‘Acute water crisis’ 

Brijendra Singh, Hisar MP, in his debut speech in the Lok Sabha, stated that about 100 villages of the Hisar Lok Sabha constituency had been facing water shortage. He said about 20 villages in the Nalwa and Adampur segments were the worst hit by the shortage of irrigation and potable water. He demanded inclusion of these villages in the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana