Kandi villages parched as water crisis deepens amid heatwave

As the scorching summer heat intensifies, residents of the Kandi region are struggling for every drop of drinking water. People are deeply distressed by the poor water supply in the semi-hill villages, with drinking water disrupted in more than a dozen villages. The worst affected are five villages—Bari, Balam, Naurangpur, Chakk Kothi and Latholi—where residents are desperately longing for relief.

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Although the Water Supply Department has attempted to provide water through tankers, the supply remains inadequate under the blazing sun.

Akshat Sharma, a youth leader and resident of Beh Nangal village, said that drinking water supply is insufficient in most villages near Kamahi Devi town. “Over the years, basic facilities like drinking water have remained a distant dream for the people of these villages. In the scorching heat, people are suffering a lot and have to spend a lot of money to arrange drinking water. These days are very difficult for cattle rearers,” he said.

Standing in line before a water tanker under the harsh sun, residents including Bimla Devi, Neeta Rani, Pravani Kumari, Rita Rani and Suman Kumari expressed their anguish. They said they are forced to struggle for every drop of water and are fed up with repeated claims of proper water management by political leaders. “Governments have come and gone but no one has looked into the drinking water problem of the Kandi area,” they said.

Executive Engineer Anuj Sharma from the Water Supply and Sanitation Department said this evening that the tubewell supplying water to these villages had broken down. “The pump was continuously throwing soil with water. We are trying to improve the situation, and now the pump throws soil for the initial five minutes, after which the water becomes clear. We are trying to create a bypass for the first five minutes and then supply the water through a second pump to the villages. Normalcy is expected to be restored in a couple of days. We are also trying to supply water to one of the villages through another water supply scheme in village Tung,” said Sharma.