Finding a bride is a Herculean task in Bharatpur’s villages not because the grooms are ineligible but because of the severe water crisis and the depleting ground water levels.
Young women no longer want to move to these villages and haul water miles everyday, and girls quickly move out after marriage.
The residents of these villages in the Deeg-Kumher and Nagar assembly constituencies have written letters to everyone from Prime Minister Narendra Modi downwards and say nothing has worked.
The Deeg-Kumher MLA is Congress’ Vishvendra Singh while Nagar is headed by BJP’s Anita Singh Gurjar.
Disappointed with their legislators, residents say they will not let candidates discuss votes until they are provided with a timebound solution to the two-decade-old water problem.
Unmarried men between the ages of 25 and 40 years are common in these villages that used to marry off boys before the age of 21.
“Nobody wants to marry into these villages where they will be expected to walk for kilometres to fetch water,” said Roop Singh.
In their recent letter to the PM, residents of 40 villages shared their problems and expressed the need for immediate action to resolving the water crisis.
Bharatpur zila parishad member Neim Singh, who has been taking up the water scarcity issues at different levels, said, “Some of the worst-affected villages are Mawai, Mavesara, Bedam, Kakra and Moroli.
The dam has dried up as the river has no water.