Why villagers will only vote for a party with a plan to supply water

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.

Villagers fall gravely ill due to contaminated water in Punjab

LAHORE: Contaminated water is leading to inhabitants of village Kot Asadullah falling sick with bone and joint pains, reported Geo News.
The village in close proximity to the provincial capital has been affected by unhygienic water being provided in the area with residents falling gravely sick with extreme bone and joint aches leading to an inability to move.
One of the residents was cited by reports as saying: "The government needs to pay special attention and resolve this issue on an urgent basis.” Furthermore it was revealed by villagers that the contamination of the water supply was a result of chemicals emissions by factories in the area.
It was reported that a water plant established in the year 2000 remains out of order to date resulting in long queues of villagers at a filtration plant put in by an NGO.
“The land absorbs the chemicals from nearby factories which is why people are falling sick,” complained another inhabitant.
In reference to the issue, spokesperson of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Naeem-ur-Rehman stated that a similar occurrence had come afloat 20 years prior as well due an elevated level of fluoride in the water, while adding that: “There are 12 districts of Punjab where there are high levels of fluoride.” Moreover, the villagers had urged the government to jump in and take stern measures to resolve the issue.

Gurugram villagers claim ‘vilayati babool’ trees drying Aravallis, depleting groundwater level

Residents of Gairatpur Baas and Mohammadpur Gujar villages say that 75 to 80% concentration of mesquite or Vilayti Babool trees in the region led to extreme water scarcity so much so that wild life in the region has started encroaching into the villages for water.
Mesquite, or Vilayti Babool trees, which have a huge presence in the Aravallis, have been an impediment to the villagers in an already water-scarce region, says Amit Rathi, a villager from Gairatpur Baas who actively works for the wildlife in the region.
However, this led to extreme water scarcity in the region, so much so that animals depending on the naturally available water started encroaching into the villages for water.
On May 15, a one-and-a-half year old leopard was found dead in Gairatpur Baas, near the pit constructed by the villagers, as it had ventured into the area in search of water.
Having grown mango, green apple, walnut, lemon, chickoo, mausambi, pears and other trees on his 4-acre plot, Vats has proved that the region is conducive for the growth of all sorts of vegetation, even plants which grow in colder regions.
“All sorts of vegetation can grow in the Aravallis, but it does take some effort from the forest department.
However the forest department said that they were not notified about this.
However, acclaimed environmentalist, author and filmmaker Pradip Krishen said that high water consumption by the Vilayti Babool trees is not such an issue here.
Krishen, however, agreed that Vilayti Babool is an invasive species and is a menace for other vegetation in the region.
Last year, the forest department had passed an order stating that permission would not be required to clear mesquite (videshi babool) and kikar trees in the Aravallis.

Tangdar villagers face acute water scarcity

Peerzada Sayeed Srinagar, Jun 26 (KNS): The residents living in Tangdar villages of north Kashmir are up in arms against the Public Health Engineering (PHE) department for failing to provide adequate water supply to them.
The villages including Sadpora and Dhani are facing immense hardships in absence of the water.
They said that the authorities are forcing the womenfolk to walk almost three kilometers to fetch water from Nallah Qazinag.
The residents said that the 22 households are without water from last 12 days but the authorities are ignoring their plights.
They said that in Bukhian Tangdar, Sangdi Nawan Gabrah, the residents are without water from last three months.
Niyaz Mohammad, a local said that due to rupturing of pipeline, the residents are not getting water from past three months but the authorities have failed to repair the pipeline since then, leaving the residents to lurch at large.
Exen PHE, Rajinder Singh told Kashmir News Service (KNS) that they are sending water tanks regularly to villages and the problem will be resolved very soon once the pipeline will be sanctioned.
(KNS)

Tanghdar villagers face acute water scarcity

Srinagar, Jun 26: The residents living in Tanghdar villages of north Kashmir are up in arms against the Public Health Engineering (PHE) department for failing to provide adequate water supply to them.
The villages including Sadpora and Dhani are facing immense hardships in absence of the water.
They said that the authorities are forcing the womenfolk to walk almost three kilometers to fetch water from Nallah Qazinag.
The residents said that the 22 households are without water from last 12 days but the authorities are ignoring their plights.
They said that in Bukhian Tanghdar, Sangdi Nawan Gabrah, the residents are without water from last three months.
Niyaz Mohammad, a local said that due to rupturing of pipeline, the residents are not getting water from past three months but the authorities have failed to repair the pipeline since then, leaving the residents to lurch at large.
Exen PHE, Rajinder Singh said that they are sending water tanks regularly to villages and the problem will be resolved very soon once the pipeline will be sanctioned.

Malabe villagers access piped drinking water

A TOTAL of 120 villagers of Malabe in Wainibuka, Tailevu, now have access to piped drinking water after the completion of their $100k Rural Water Project.
The project included the upgrading of the existing dam, the installation of a two-inch strainer and a two-inch outlet valve, the replacement of the galvanised two-inch water main with PVC pipes from the dam to the reservoir, and the construction of a 10,000gallon ferro-cement water tank.
The project also saw the extension of the 32-inch water main to new settlers in the village.
Water Authority of Fiji chief operating officer Samanmal Ekanayake said the people of Malabe had assisted the WAF crew members in undertaking the project.
“This empowers the water committee to be responsible for ongoing maintenance and repairs, thus ensuring the longevity and sustainability of their village water supply system.
For this project, the village water committee received $1640 as payment for the village assistance provided,” said Mr Ekanayake in a statement.
The villagers were drinking directly from the dam and there was no storage tank for water, and they often resorted to using the Wainibuka River for bathing and washing.

Clean water is all we want, say villagers

Punjab Aparna Banerji Jalandhar, May 27 Villages across Shahkot are prone to a host of diseases, including the dreaded cancer, which they blame on polluted water of the Chitti Bein and the Kala Sanghian drain.
Panch Tarsem Lal says they have seen over 20 deaths in the past few years at Eesewal village.
Similarly at Seechewal village, where polluted water is the key issue, at least 12-13 deaths from cancer have taken place in the past few years.
While a high-pitched campaign was witnessed in the constituency in the past two days, the villagers say they only hope that the winning candidate keeps the promise to provide clean water to the area residents.
Manjit Kaur of Seechewal, who lost her 16-year-old daughter to cancer, says: “After fish deaths, candidates of all parties took the water issue.
We wonder once the elections are over, will they bother about it?” Similarly views were aired by her neighbour Jaswinder Kaur (70), who lost two family members to cancer.
Villages all along the Chitti Bein do not have access to clean drinking water.
Environmentalist Balbir Singh Seechewal says: “The villages across the Shahkot constituency are digging out tubewells as deep as 400-500 ft since until 200 ft, the water is polluted.
We have received assurances from all leaders that they would be working to clean Kala Saghian drain and the Bein.
We only hope that they paid heed to this serious issue.”Kahan Singh Pannu, Chairman, PPCB, said: “We have capped the capacity of the units running at the leather complex at 50 per cent.

Is it water scarcity or govt apathy as Chhattisgarh villagers drink water from drain?

Raipur, May 22: Poor in India lead miserable lives.
It is the poor and underprivileged who have to bear the brunt of any catastrophe first.
The poor are the shields for the rich to tide over any tragedy.
Again the poor and marginalised are suffering the most due to water paucity across the country.
Women and girls walking several kilometers to bring home water in pots and buckets is a common site in many cities, towns and villages of India.
Since water is scarce, villagers are drinking water from a drain.
A village in Dantewada is reeling under water scarcity.
Locals are compelled to dig water from an area near a drain, reported ANI.
"We will look into the matter, if there is a shortage of hand pumps then we will install them," Saurabh Kumar, collector, told ANI.
If these images also don’t move our politicians and authorities, we don’t know what would.

Kunene’s drought-stricken villagers move into Opuwo town

Alvine Kapitako Opuwo-The drought that has ravaged the Kunene Region for at least seven consecutive years now, continues to affect communities in the region who depend on agriculture for their livelihoods and have since started moving into the regional capital, Opuwo.
The Mayor of Opuwo, Albert Tjiuma, told New Era last week that many farmers who survived on their animals have migrated to Opuwo where they have set up structures anywhere.
“Some even came with their animals and this has contributed to the problem of many animals within the boundaries of the town,” said Tjiuma.
“They expect to be provided with services such as water but that is difficult because it was unplanned for,” said Tjiuma.
However, the situation in Opuwo is not any different from that in remote areas and, according to 41-year-old Ukonjerua Kavari of Omaoipanga village situated 15 kilometres from Opuwo, people depend mainly on drought relief from the government in order to survive.
“It hasn’t rained, you can see how dry it is,” said Kavari, pointing to the dry land.
Apart from drought relief consisting mainly of maize, cooking oil, salt and rice – which they get only about three times a year – Kavari depends on his livestock for survival.
“I don’t think it will rain this year and if it does it won’t be sufficient for us to recover from this drought.
I lost many animals over the years,” lamented Kavari.
Uahironua Tjisuta, who is 22 years old, said there are 11 adults and seven children at their house.

Tukavesi villagers benefit from new $176k water project

(From left) Salome Turagaicei, 10, of Nawi Village; Maika Saladromo, 12, of Buca Village; Sereana Yalayala, 47, of Naruwai Village and Viliame Matai, 7, of Loa Village tasting water from a standpipe in Tukavesi village.
Photo: WAF Four hundred villagers of Tukavesi, Natewa in Cakaudrove, Vanua Levu, now have access to piped drinking water after the completion of their Rural Water Project.
The previous system, which was constructed in 2008, experienced major leakages in the piping network and a complete replacement of the reticulation in the village, as well as requested Government stations.
The $176,046 project, which was outsourced by the Water Authority of Fiji (WAF) to Taviraki Building and Civil Works Limited, saw the laying of 800 lengths (4.5km) of 50mm and 150 lengths (1km) of 15mm of PVC pipes, and 8 coils of 20mm polythene pipes along trenched paths.
WAF Chief Operating Officer, Mr Samanmal Ekanayake, reiterated that the outsourcing model the Authority is implementing empowers the community by paying the water committee for the village support required during the water project.
“This empowers the Water Committee to be responsible for ongoing maintenance and repairs, thus ensuring the longevity and sustainability of their village water supply system.
This also builds the local capacity of contractors to undertake water supply construction work.
For this project, the village water committee will receive $6,629 as payment for the village assistance provided,” said Mr Ekanayake.
“For the last three years, a youth and I had to close and open the valve in order to have water in the village and prevent the school (Kama District School) from closing and keep our children in school,” he said.
Edited by Percy Kean