Sardarpur (Madhya Pradesh): Khamaliya village, some 9 km away from Sardarpur tehsil headquarters, is facing a severe water crisis, and villagers are forced to depend on private tube wells for drinking water.
The scorching heat of May has dried up local wells and tube wells. There are around 2000 people in the village.
The only source of relief is a private tube well owned by one of the residents, Jaiprakash Dixit, which is always crowded with people seeking water.
The construction of a new water tank in the village has been going on for over a year, but work stopped some six months. The government's Jal Jeevan Mission scheme, aimed at providing water supply, has failed to deliver results.
Villagers report that a pipeline was laid before the tank's construction, but that work was left incomplete. The old Nal Jal Yojana has failed, with some residents tampering with the pipeline to create unauthorised connections.
Village sarpanch Gulab Singh Ajnar expressed frustration over lack of progress, stating that no one knows which agency is responsible for the tank's construction.
Efforts to contact SDO Naval Singh Bhuria of the Public Health Engineering Department for comments were unsuccessful as his phone was switched off.
