In the Mandawas village of the Pali district, a distressing reality has emerged where women and young children are forced to travel long distances to fetch water during the scorching summer heat. Residents report that pipeline construction has been stalled for an extended period, resulting in a severe shortage of drinking water. Jagrawal Madan Singh recently visited Mandawas to observe the situation on the ground. He met with local villagers and women, who shared the extreme difficulties they face daily just to secure basic water supplies. Given the severity of this issue, there is an urgent demand for the state government to complete the pending works under the 'Jal Jeevan Mission' so that the villagers can find relief from these subhuman conditions.
A Model Village Only on Paper
The 'Jal Jeevan Mission,' a project touted by the government to ensure water for every household, appears completely stagnant in the Rohat region. Mandawas serves as a prime example of this failure; while plans were drafted to create an 'ideal village' by installing pipelines, the reality is far different. Due to a lack of payments to the contractor over the past two years, all work has ground to a halt. Government-supplied pipes, worth lakhs of rupees, are left abandoned and decaying along roadsides, while residents continue to suffer from a lack of water.
Incomplete Infrastructure Leaves Half the Village Thirsty
Jagrawal Madan Singh noted that the residents are paying the price for the negligence of the PHED and the contractors. In an attempt to implement the new scheme, existing functional water lines in the village were shut down. The situation now is that the new pipelines remain incomplete, and the old ones are no longer operational. Consequently, while some parts of the village receive a limited water supply, the other half has been completely dry for two years.
Humans Suffer While Livestock Water is a Mere Pretense
The situation in dozens of villages surrounding Rohat is largely identical. Contractors have left sites abandoned across the region. Villagers allege that the state government and local administration are only performing a facade of providing water for livestock, while no concrete efforts are being made to supply water to human populations on the ground.
Financial Burden of Private Water Tankers
Amidst the intense heat and the ongoing water crisis, villagers have no choice but to procure water from private tankers at exorbitant rates. Impoverished residents are forced to pay between 1500 to 2000 rupees per tanker, placing a massive burden on their household budgets. Those who cannot afford this expense are forced to manually haul water from distant wells. Representatives from the Rohat region and local residents have now demanded that the Chief Minister intervene in the matter immediately. Their primary demands include the resumption of stalled work, the release of pending payments to contractors to ensure pipelines are connected, and an increase in the number of government water tanker rounds until a permanent solution is implemented to alleviate the public's suffering.
