by Peerzada Arshad Hamid
NEW DELHI, May 29 (NNN-XINHUA) – Amid scorching heat in India’s Rajasthan, Pali district in the desert state is facing the worst water crisis, locals and officials said yesterday.
Reports said, all sustainable water resources have almost dried up in the past decade in the district, about 299 km south-west of Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan.
The water scarcity began in March in the wake of extremely hot weather, forcing the local administration to provide water almost every four to 10 days.
According to local officials, the daily need of water in Pali is about 24 million litres per day.
Authorities, in collaboration with the railways, have secured special trains to ship water to the district, to meet the basic demand of the thousands of local residents.
Locals said that, every day dozens of people, mostly women and children, struggle hard to fill their plastic jerry cans and metal pots from hoses gushing water out of the water train.
“The wagons are first emptied into cement storage tanks, from which the water is sent to a treatment plant for filtering and distribution. But many people fill directly from the storage tanks, despite the water being untreated,” local resident, Alok Sharma said. “Getting water is now a full-time job of some women and children. Even the children skip classes to ensure there is water in the house.”
Many residents who fail to receive water provided by the authorities are forced to fend for themselves, locals said.
Authorities have asked farmers to get water from wells.
The water shortage has triggered protests, which, under the scorching temperature of 45 degrees Celsius have become a daily routine.
Officials said, water in the Pali district is primarily supplied from the Jawai Sagar dam, which is facing an acute shortage of water, due to below-average rainfall in the past two years.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the North Western Railway (NWR) said, the Indian railway has transported 200 million litres of water, since Apr, to the water-scarce Pali.
The water is being ferried from the adjacent Jodhpur district. On Friday, the train completed its 100th trip carrying two million litres of water.
“When the service was started in Apr, one trip per day was being made from Jodhpur, which was later increased to three trips a day,” NWR chief public relations officer, Shashi Kiran, said, adding that, the service will continue until the water crisis is over.
The water crisis in Pali raises doubts about the Indian government’s claims of taking piped water to every household. In 2019, Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, launched an ambitious programme promising a functional tap connection to all households in rural India by 2024.– NNN-XINHUA
