E-Paper
Now, father of Hathras girl who wrote to PM Modi sits on indefinite fast
After a five-year-old girl of Maya Nagla village in Hathras district wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 12 seeking potable water in her village, her father Chandra Pal Singh started an indefinite fast on Saturday over the “slow pace of work” on the Jal Nigam project launched in August 2020 to supply water to the village and press for his daughter’s demand
After a five-year-old girl of Maya Nagla village in Hathras district wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 12 seeking potable water in her village, her father Chandra Pal Singh started an indefinite fast on Saturday over the “slow pace of work” on the Jal Nigam project launched in August 2020 to supply water to the village and press for his daughter’s demand.
Singh is an MBA and used to work in a private factory in Faridabad. He came back to his village three years ago.
Singh alleged that the local administration and officials of Jal Nigam, Hathras, failed to make the project a reality over the past 10 months. However, officials of the Jal Nigam claimed that the project would be completed by September 2021, the deadline set for it.
“I have been struggling to resolve the issue of water scarcity in my village--Nagla Maya since long and recently my five-year-old daughter Nikunj Singh, with help of her cousins, wrote a letter to PM Modi in this regard,” stated Chandra Pal Singh.
“Minister in UP cabinet Mahendra Singh had made efforts to address the water problem and the scheme was launched in August 2020 to supply water by pipeline to Mahasinghpur gram panchayat. But the local administration has failed to make it a reality in the past 10 months,” complained Singh.
“For me PM Modi and chief minister Yogi Adityanath are like gods, and I trust them. I gave up food and water from today (Saturday) and sat in front of photos of Modi and CM Yogi by lighting a ‘akhand jyoti’, which will continue to be lit till every person of my gram panchayat gets potable water,” said Singh.
Refuting Singh’s allegation, Jal Nigam (Hathras) executive engineer RK Sharma said work on the project was progressing at a fast pace.
“The deadline for the completion of the project is September 2021, but we will complete the work before the deadline. This project would make potable water available for three villages of Mahasinghpur gram panchayat, including Nagla Maya,” he claimed.
Earlier, Hathras district magistrate Ramesh Ranjan had said, “The work is on for providing water to the village of the complainant.There was disruption in work because of Covid restrictions/curfew, but the contractor has now resumed work and will complete the project as soon as possible.”
However, Singh claimed that the pace of the project to lay a water pipeline, which would supply water to the three villages including his, was very slow.
He alleged, “The area has been facing water crisis for the past three decades because underground water is not fit for drinking and a population of about 2 to 2.5 lakh living in 150 villages under 61 village panchayats have to rely on a water source in Haitha Raghunathpur village, around three kilometers away from my village.”
