Madhya Pradesh: Drinking Water Remains A ‘Pipe’ Dream For Sardarpur, Rajgarh Residents

Sardarpur (Madhya Pradesh): Residents of Sardarpur, Rajgarh towns continue to suffer due to scarcity of drinking water, as the Rs 15 crore ‘drinking water supply scheme' meant for providing safe drinking water has evidently failed, even after 5 years have gone by. The government spent Rs 15 crore over drinking water supply scheme in 2018 but to no vain as it failed to supply pure drinking water to households. Pertinently, water is being supplied from shoddy old pipelines to homes which are not safe for drinking purposes and not even safe for bathing and washing clothes.

The population of Sardarpur is around 9k. On the basis of it, the government had sanctioned Rs 5.6 crore rupees for the drinking water scheme. Similarly, the government had sanctioned Rs 9 crore for Rajgarh having a population of around 20k. Due to apathy of political leaders and the district administration, the contractors have left tap connections incomplete without reaching its beneficiaries. Now, residents are facing drinking water crisis and are compelled to purchase water from private tankers.

When contacted, city council Sardarpur CMO Yashwant Shukla denied giving details due to his recent arrival. On the other hand, municipal council CMO (Rajgarh) Devbala Piplonia did not respond to phone calls. Congress MLA Pratap Grewal said that he had raised the issue with the Urban Administration Minister. Another Rs 1 crore has been approved for this. Soon the work will begin after re-calling the tender.