Sehore (Madhya Pradesh): The water supply work, left incomplete by the contractors of Jal Jeevan Mission, is posing a major problem to the villagers in Barkheda Kurmi village, Ichhawar.
Water connections were given to the residents after years. Nevertheless, the villagers are not getting through the pipeline laid three months ago.
As a result, the villagers have to depend on a tank installed on the premises of a Dharmashala for a bucket of water. Not only that, the chambers, made for supplying water to Barkheda Kurmi village, have been left open, which may cause accidents. The ditches, made with the help of machines to lay pipeline in the farmlands, have damaged onions. In many farmlands, pipes laid by the farmers to irrigate their fields have been damaged, because the contractors improperly used JCB machines to dig up land for laying pipelines.
The villagers have handed over applications to the officials during public hearings, but their complaints were ignored. According to sources, nearly 2,500 residents of Barkhedakurmi village are facing problems because of the incomplete work of Jal Jeevan Mission. Pipes have been left outside the residences in the name of providing water connection to every house. Water was also supplied in the name of testing those pipelines, but after ten minutes the supply was stopped, villagers said.
Three months have passed since the pipeline was laid, but the villagers have yet to get water supply. According to some villagers, the administration never took action against the contractors who laid the pipeline and did other work for the Jal Jeewan Mission.
Therefore, the farmers are getting water from a tank on the premises of a Dharmashala.
A farmer from the village Upendra Paliwal said he had complained about their problems during public hearings, but the administration did not take any action to solve their problems.
He said the contractors did not cover the ditches dug for laying the pipeline. According to Paliwal, the villagers are scared of the ditches into which cattle fell and sustained injuries. The careless work by the contractors has also caused financial loss to the farmers. Because of improper use of JCB machines, the pipeline laid by the farmers to irrigate their farmlands got damaged.
According to sub-engineer of Public Health Engineering Department Narendra Tare, the farmland was damaged at the time of laying Narmada Pipeline. He said his department had laid pipelines in the village, and the bore well, from where water was supplied dried up, so digging a new bore well was proposed, and water would soon be supplied. After this, the system will be connected to the pipeline laid under Jal Jeevan Mission, the official said.
