Bombay HC Directs State Govt To Supply Water Tankers To All Villages In Melghat Region

Mumbai, April 29: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday pressed the Maharashtra government to urgently ensure potable water supply to villages in the tribal Melghat region, warning that worsening summer conditions could make survival difficult without immediate intervention.

Voicing strong concern over the situation, the bench said, “We will make them (government officials) sit in court from 11 am to 6 pm, without water. Can they sit in an AC (courtroom) without water?” It added, “Did we not alert you last time that as the summer becomes intense, more issues are going to crop up?”

Court seeks urgent tanker plan

Additional Government Pleader Bhupesh Samant, appearing for the state, told the court, “We are working on it,” and referred to steps taken on employment generation. He submitted that over Rs 135 crore had been disbursed as wages in the past year in two talukas of Melghat, adding that “people are getting some income.” The court, however, made it clear that its immediate focus was drinking water. “Now we are concerned with water,” the bench said.

Directing the state to put in place a plan, the court said, “By the next hearing, tell us that you will send one big tanker to each village. It can be more than one also.”

It indicated that such supply should continue at least until the onset of the monsoon.

Heatwave worsens crisis

Taking note of ground conditions, the court recorded submissions that temperatures in Vidarbha are currently ranging between 45 and 46 degrees Celsius. Noting that areas are facing acute shortages due to drying water bodies, the bench said: “Regions like Melghat and several villages like Dharani, Chikaldara, Churani and many others in the region are almost without water because of the severe evaporation of water and drying up of water bodies / wells, etc.”

Highlighting the urgency in supplying potable water, the HC added: “It requires no debate that the Vidarbha region would practically be on fire by mid-May and by the end of May up to the first half of June, people in such villages will not be able to survive without supply of potable water.”

Next hearing on May 7

The court asked advocate Jugalkishore Gilda to share a list of affected villages with the state immediately, and asked Samant to hold discussions with authorities and present a clear statement on the proposed tanker supply at the next hearing.

Samant assured the court that the administration would not wait for further orders and start supplying water through tankers. He added that he would inform, next week, the number of water tankers provided by then.

The matter is scheduled for further hearing on May 7.

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Last week, the high court had flagged recurring deaths linked to unsafe drinking water and gaps in public health services in Melghat, while hearing a batch of PILs filed by activists Dr Rajendra Burma and Bandu Sampatrao Sane. It had taken note of a recent contamination incident that reportedly left 86 people hospitalised and caused 13 deaths, stressing that such fatalities “need to be avoided.”

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