Jhumpura: With the sole rural drinking water project in Kasia village of Malda gram panchayat under Jhumpura block in Keonjhar district lying defunct for over four months, the villagers are being forced to use water from an unhygienic pit (chua in local parlance). Surrounded by a dense forest, Kasia village falls under Ward No-6 of the panchayat. The village has four sahis and is inhabited by over 600 people. Continuous drinking of the pit water has led to many being affected by various types of stomach ailments.
There had been an effort to ease the drinking water woes in the village. Under the ‘Basudha Scheme’, a drinking water supply project spending over lakhs of rupees from District Mineral Foundation (DMF) fund was set up in the village in 2018-19. A deep bore well was dug up, a water overhead tank was constructed, an electric motor was installed and pipes were laid.
However, within two years of the initiation of the project, the pipes developed cracks leading to the disrupted water supply. Due to lack of proper maintenance, the pipes in the pump house were also damaged. Lastly, the electric motor pump also developed snags leading to the complete failure of the project.
The villagers have made numerous visits to the panchayat and the Rural Drinking water supply offices in Jhumpura. They have met officials and requested their intervention to make the project functional but to no avail.
“We have submitted letters to the officials concerned on several occasions, requesting them to take steps to end our problem. It seems there is none to listen to our problem. We have again been forced to use the same pit water,” rued Shukadeb Munda, Ganda Munda, Durga Munda, Keshab Munda, Shirapani Munda, Kunu Naik and Madan Naik of Ghutu Sahi of Kasia village.
When contacted, junior engineers on the concerned department Mohan Singh and Subhasmita Khamari said the electric motor pump has been sent for repair. Once it is repaired and brought back, the pipes and other materials would be repaired or replaced, as their conditions demand, and the project would soon be made functional.