YAVATMAL: The
Yavatmal municipal council subcommittee chairman
Nitin Giri of BJP on Saturday alleged that the officials of Maharashtra
Jeevan Pradhikaran (MJP) are responsible for the unprecedented drinking water crisis faced by the residents of the city.
According to Giri, the district had received scanty rainfall (about 60% of the average annual rainfall) during last monsoon. Hence, the MJP should have planned its water supply schemes to tackle the impending shortage. But they took it lightly and had not taken any proper step to meet the water crisis.
Citing the failure of the MJP officials, Giri said that there was a 4.5km pipeline from MIDC-based water filter plant to the Darda Nagar-based water storage tank of the MJP for which crores of rupees had already been spent by the government. Water was brought from the Gokhi Irrigation Dam to the MIDC plant to cater to the needs of the industries in the MIDC. But, when the city was running short of drinking water, the then administration spent a huge amount to lay a pipeline from MIDC to
Darda Nagar storage tank which was commissioned over 15 years ago.
Meanwhile, the Chapdoh project was commissioned and the water from the Chapdoh dam was pumped into Nilona treatment plant and after treatment, it was supplied to the four lakh residents of the city.
“A survey was conducted and the feasibility of water from Gokhi to quench the parched throats of Yavatmal city was confirmed. Here came the question of the old pipeline,” said Giri, adding that the pipeline was already dismantled by MJP officials.
The city has not received a single drop of water in 30 days despite MJP’s claim that it made operative floating pumps in the dried out Nilona Tank and spent crores of rupees on it.
On what arrangements were made to cater the drinking water to the city dwellers, MJP executive engineer
Ajay Bele could not give any convincing reply. And about the pipeline between MIDC to Darda Nagar storage tank, he said it might have been be dismantled and used for road work.
