E-Paper
Quenching thirst with muddy water
EACH DAY, they begin their tiresome journey with pitchers on their heads. Their watchful eyes search for water, the most vital thing to sustain life. Unfortunately, they are unable to quench their thirst as most of the water resources in the drought-prone areas in the district have dried up. The inhabitants of Shankergarh, Manda, Koraon and other areas are forced to face such situation each day.
EACH DAY, they begin their tiresome journey with pitchers on their heads. Their watchful eyes search for water, the most vital thing to sustain life.
Unfortunately, they are unable to quench their thirst as most of the water resources in the drought-prone areas in the district have dried up.
The inhabitants of Shankergarh, Manda, Koraon and other areas are forced to face such situation each day. However, despite spending the entire day in search for water, they are able to obtain the amount and quality which is beyond the scope of consumption. Muddy water is all they are getting which is slowly making them the victims of multiple diseases.
During the 'Jalyatra' which took place recently in the area, keyperson Dr Suneet Singh, who is a research associate in GB Pant Social Science Institute, Jhunsi, said, summer season heralded much trouble, especially in the drought-prone areas. "The main objective of Jalyatra is to create awareness regarding rejuvenation of ponds as this would help in refunctioning of the handpumps and dried up wells as the water table will rise. Moisture will resurface on the top soil and this would facilitate farming," he said.
The Jalyatra, which took place recently in the villages of Shankergarh and Jasra development blocks from April 8 to 11, will be carried out in several phases under which other drought-prone areas will also be covered. "On April 21 and 22, we will cover the villages of Meja and from April 25 to 27, the villages of Manda and Koraon will be covered," added Dr Singh.
During the Jalyatra, Dr Singh came to know several facts which highlighted the exact situation in the villages. "Our focus is on the rejuvenation of ponds as this would solve several water-related problems. Voluntary labour is what we are asking the villagers to do which is basically known as 'shramdaan'. We are motivating them with the help of the Bihariya model and Golahiya model which were successful. Fortunately, the villagers are showing interest and they want to come up with their own solutions," he said.
Dr Singh, however, expressed discontent over the initiative undertaken by the administration in this regard. "The sanctioned money is not utilised properly," he rued.
"We have already identified thirty ponds in 22 villages which could be rejuvenated with the help of rain-water harvesting. A dozen stone quarries have also been spotted which could be used for the rain water harvesting. Blasting is the best way to expand and deepen the dried up wells but it could not be accomplished due to financial crunch," said Dr Singh.
"The situation has worsened as people are bound to consume muddy water which is strained and consumed. Only 15 to 20 buckets of water is obtained in a day from a well and then the inhabitants wait for hours for the well to get refilled," he added.
However, with the initiative of Jalyatra undertaken by GB Pant institute and several NGOs such as Mahila Samakhya, Sankalp, Sanchetana and also volunteers from Allahabad University, the villagers have now found a ray of hope. "They are very enthusiastic and interested in pond rejuvenation. They want to form water committees which would take care of all the water-related issues. Their enthusiasm is a resource which would certainly help in shramdaan and they might never have to toil for water in future", said Dr Suneet.
