Amid the summer heat wave and rising high temperatures in several parts of the country, several villages in Amravati district of Maharashtra, especially in the Melghat region, are experiencing severe water crisis, forcing residents to collect water from contaminated sources, which creates health risks.
Residents of Mariampur village in Amravati village alleged that they are forced to collect drinking water by digging holes on the bank of the polluted pond. Locals have further criticized the government for not taking action regarding the serious water crisis in the village. Locals blamed the government, citing non-functioning government water tanks and the absence of adequate water tankers sent to their village.
Subhash Sawalkar, a villager, said: “Our village has only one pond and it is too polluted. We wake up around 4 in the morning and go to the pond to collect water for our children. It takes 2-3 hours to fill the ponds. wells we dug.” People queue to collect this contaminated water, causing health problems for our children. “Just today I had to take my children to the doctor to give them medication.”
“There is no tanker supply and we don’t even get tap water. We come here early in the morning and sometimes we have to stay until 10 or 11 pm just to collect the dirty water. The water crisis is creating a lot of problems. , and no one is taking action about it.” added Phulkai Belsare, an elderly resident of Mariampur.
“Can no one see what is happening in Mariampur? From the municipal committee to the water department, everyone is sleeping. We are facing a serious water crisis. Other villages have state taps and wells, but we don’t even have them.” “We have. We had a drinking water facility, but it was also damaged. I demand that the government repair our taps.” She added: “We wait for hours to collect dirty water from these wells, which is harmful to our health. There is no supply of water tankers or any other assistance,” said Jasmine, another villager, expressing her frustration.
Amravati is located within the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. Due to climate vulnerability, Vidarbha is one of the regions most affected by the water crisis and it has been a long-standing problem in the Vidarbha region. Due to the lack of adequate water in this region for multiple purposes, including agriculture, it is often attributed to the high rate of farmer suicides in the region.
Apart from Maharashtra, other parts of the country are suffering from a severe water crisis due to extreme heat wave. Earlier on Thursday, several parts of Delhi suffered a water crisis. Residents had to wait for hours in a long queue to receive tankers.
Residents of Geeta Colony in East Delhi district have raised concerns over inadequate water supply by the government. As reported by ANI, they complained that the government was only providing half the amount of water needed.
A resident of Geeta Colony, Vinay, told ANI: “We are facing a serious water crisis. Our locality has a population of around 3,000 to 4,000 people, but the government sends only half the required number of water tankers.” He added: “Although a tanker arrives daily, with this scorching heat the demand for water has increased considerably. Sometimes they reduce the amount of water in the tanker, so we suffer a lot. As long as there are no tankers, “The “Wealthier residents can buy water, but poorer residents cannot, so they have to drink dirty water, which causes disease.”
“We have complained several times to the MLA of the area, but we have never received a valid response. Nobody listens to us.” Vinay further added expressing his frustration.
An elderly resident of Geeta Colony shared, “I usually come after 10 to 15 days, sometimes even a month, but as always, I don’t get water.
Shabru Khatun, a resident of the colony, said that they have faced many water-related problems in this area. They only get one tanker for the entire area and the water from the tanker is used for drinking and cooking. “Sometimes we don’t even get the tanker and we are forced to buy bottled water,” Shabru Khatun told ANI.
While Siliguri is also added to the list of cities facing extreme water crisis, the Shilguri Municipal Corporation requests the residents of Shilguri not to drink the water supplied by the corporation due to its pollution.
Siliguri Municipal Corporation Mayor Gautam Dev said, “After receiving a report that found the BOD level to be slightly high, we requested the people of Siliguri not to take drinking water supply until further notice.” .
People in Siliguri on Thursday were seen standing in long queues at private drinking water providers to buy water, amid the severe water crisis in Shilguri.