Drinking water shortage in Abohar villages worsens

Raj Sadosh

Abohar, April 10

As Abohar city is facing drinking water problems since March 16 due to the closure of the canal, the problem in the villages located at the tail-end of the canal system has increased. Reservoirs have dried as temperature in the afternoon soars to 40°C, leading to unavailability of drinking water.

In Abohar, drinking water is being arranged through tubewells. It is stored in huge tanks and supplied after 72 hours by rotation.

Achadiki, adjacent to the Abohar-Rajasthan border, is one of the worst-affected villages, says Surjit Singh. He added that governments have changed, many political leaders have visited the village and gave them assurances, but relief hasn’t arrived.

Villagers gathered and decided to boycott the upcoming Lok Sabha elections today, even as the administration dreams of achieving a target of 70 per cent polling on June 1.

Kamalpreet Singh, a farmer, told the media that joint waterworks for the village is situated in Bhangarkhera village, which is 8 km away. It becomes difficult to get water supplied, and only contaminated water was available now.

Another villager, Sukhpal Kaur, said the residents now depended on a common pond, but its water was not safe for consumption and could cause diseases. People are forced to get water through tankers from Gang Canal in Rajasthan, at Rs 800 per tanker.

Jagir Kaur said at election time, leaders appeal for votes by giving assurances, but no one had made a sincere effort to solve their problem. She said that though there was a very old “diggi” in the village, it was in a poor condition and despite repeated requests the administration did not take any step to fix it.

Sources in the Water Resources Department said canal repair work was likely to be completed by April 16, and the problem of shortage of drinking water might improve after that.