Rs 27 crore water scheme, not a drop to drink

PATIALA: For over a decade,56-year-old , Brij Mohan had relentlessly struggled to ensure that several villages in Nurpur Bedi block get potable drinking water. On Monday, he thought his dream was realized, but it was shortlived.

Despite a 27 crore drinking water scheme launched by the state government in his block, timed mainly with the forthcoming geneal elections, most of the 48 villages in the block are yet to receive the potable drinking water.

Brij Mohan had lost his mother in 2001to Cholelithiasis, a water borne disease. Stunned by the tragedy, he worked tirelessly pressuring the authorities to initiate the project. But despite inauguration, villages don’t have access to potable water even now. Brij is fuming. ``We are still getting unsafe drinking water in taps at home and I will sue the government if the villagers are not provided the safe drinking water. I lost my mother a few years after she was diagnosed with Cholelithiasis and unsafe drinking water became ultimately the major reason behind her death.” he said.

The work to supply the canal based portable water to around 48 villages is still underway as only half of these villages have got access to potable canal water through Anandpur Sahib Hydel Channel.

As the water in the region is reportedly having high content of Turbidity and iron, the residents here have been demanding from long time to get potable drinking water. Manjit Kaur, Sarpanch of Nurpur Bedi village, said, “The villagers are still forced to drink unsafe and unfit water for drinking and they don’t have any alternative too. From the past several years we have been demanding the potable water from the governments but all in vain. The people here are facing several diseases because of unsafe drinking water. The Cabinet Minister had befooled us all by inaugurating the project as we are not getting a single drop of potable water.”

Notably, the Punjab Water Supply and Sanitation Minister, Razia Sultana, on Monday inaugurated the canal water supply project. Michael, the Executive Engineer of the Water Supply and Sanitation Department at Anandpur Sahib, said, “Over half of the villages are getting potable canal water through tanks while in some others it will be provided soon. We need around 10 days to provide a complete supply of potable water to these villages as some adjustment are needed. The canal water is treated at Kiratpur Sahib and is then supplied through a pipeline at Saskaur village where six booths have been installed from where the water is supplied at village water-tanks.”