Chhatarpur (Madhya Pradesh): Madhya Pradesh's Chhatarpur seems to have learnt no lesson from the Indore Water Tragedy, where 25 people died due to contaminated water. The residents, here, complained that the water supply is dirty and emits foul smell.
The officials of the Harpalpur Municipal Council in Chhatarpur remain negligent despite repetitive complaints.
The only solution they gave the people was to-- WAIT! The residents are apparently told to let the water run for ten minutes after the supply starts, allowing the dirty water to drain away, and then they can start refilling their containers.
According to locals, the tank that supplies water to the entire town has not been cleaned for several years. However, officials are not able to clarify the source of the contaminated supply.
After the Indore tragedy, under the instructions of District Collector Parth Jaiswal, the process of collecting water samples from the water sources supplying drinking water is underway.
Following multiple complaints in the region, municipal council employees, along with water department officials, went door-to-door in the wards, checking the water and collecting samples.
Locals complain...
Rajesh Soni, a resident of Ward 9, alleged that no municipal council officer or employee comes when the taps are turned on in the morning. The water is dirty and foul-smelling, unfit for bathing or washing clothes, let alone drinking. Even after such a major incident in Indore, the municipal council is paying no attention to the drinking water situation in Harpalpur.
Rakesh Agarwal, a resident of Ward 9, said that dirty water has been coming into homes for the past six months, and the situation has worsened in the last month. Complaints have been made to the councilor, the chairman, and the CMO, but to no avail.
According to reports, the municipal council dug several trenches to locate leaks in the pipeline but failed to determine the source of dirty water entering the drinking water supply line.
