E-Paper
Midnight crackdown: Police remove Bhakra pipeline illegal link in Hisar village
High-voltage drama unfolds at Chanot in Hansi as authorities dismantle a T-joint fitted hours after a 36-day protest was called off.
In a midnight operation, the district administration removed a newly installed six-inch T-joint from the Bhakra drinking water pipeline in Chanot village amid heavy police deployment. The authorities said the connection was illegal and lacked official authorisation.
Led by Hansi deputy commissioner Rahul Narwal and superintendent of police Vinod Kumar, hundreds of police personnel arrived at the village with an earthmover around 1am on Tuesday to dismantle the fitting. The move triggered resistance from local residents, who maintained that authorities had authorised the installation. To control the swelling crowd, the police deployed tear gas shells and resorted to a mild lathi-charge, resulting in minor injuries to a few villagers and a police officer.
The Hansi SP claimed that amid the clashes, ASI Pritam Singh of Bass police station suffered a head injury and was admitted to the Civil Hospital in Hansi. Additional security forces were later deployed to prevent any further escalation of the situation.
He said that the police did its job and nobody will be allowed to disrupt the law and order. The SP said that following last night’s incident, an FIR has been registered against six named individuals — former sarpanch Satyawan, Anoop Kumar, Himanshu, Saraswati, Vishakha and Sudhir — along with several other unidentified persons. The case has been lodged under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including Sections 109, 115, 121(1), 127(2), 132, 190, 192, 193, 221, 351(3), 49 and 61.
Inspector general of police (Hisar range) Kuldeep Kumar said the police are also investigating the role of Somesh Kumar, who allegedly presented himself as a government representative, and facilitated the installation of the disputed T-joint in the pipeline. Authorities are examining under what circumstances the connection was installed and whether any official authorisation was involved. However, villagers have announced that they will resume their indefinite hunger strike from June 25.
The public health engineering department (PHED) initiated the crackdown after declaring the T-connection illegal on Monday and lodging a police complaint against unidentified individuals for tampering with public property. PHED executive engineer Sanjeev Tyagi said that the department never approved the installation and alleged that unknown persons had damaged the government pipeline.
This sudden reversal shocked the village, where residents had just celebrated the water connection as a victory by distributing sweets. Following the removal, villagers threatened to intensify their agitation and issued a call for immediate mass protests in Chanot.
The confrontation abruptly reignited an issue that seemed resolved just days earlier. On Saturday night, a 36-day dharna by Chanot residents ended after they were led to believe the state government had accepted their primary demand: Accessing Bhakra canal water via the urban pipeline currently being laid for Hansi city. The breakthrough came as the health of five elderly villagers on a 13-day hunger strike deteriorated, prompting repeated administrative appeals to end the fast.
According to the villagers, negotiations were mediated by Somesh Kumar, the former president of the Haryana Sarpanch Association, who claimed to represent the state government. Protesters said that Kumar’s intervention and assurance that the T-joint was approved paved the way for ending the month-long strike.
The DC said the administration had removed the T-connection that was illegally installed in the Bhakra canal pipeline being laid for Hansi city, describing it as an unauthorised act and a violation of the law. He said the action was carried out in accordance with legal procedures while maintaining law and order, and warned that any future attempts to tamper with the main drinking water pipeline would invite strict action.
He assured residents of Chanot village that they would receive adequate supply of Bhakra canal water. He said work on a dedicated pipeline from Rajli Head to the village had already begun and was being executed on a war footing, with a target of supplying potable water to every household within the next three months. He added that the government has sanctioned around ₹7.5 crore to strengthen the village’s drinking water infrastructure, including the renovation of the waterworks and improvement of the distribution network.
With the T-joint gone, the protest committee has vowed to resume their struggle. Anoop Chanot, a member of the committee, said that the agitation will continue indefinitely until the T-point water supply is reinstated and all police cases registered against the villagers are withdrawn.
The dispute stems from an ambitious ₹80-crore drinking water project under the central government’s AMRUT scheme. The project aims to transport Bhakra canal water from Rajli Head in Barwala to Hansi city through a 30-km pipeline. Local villagers argue that because the pipeline cuts directly through their land, they should be granted a direct share of the clean drinking water supply.
