No tap water for 15 days in Vakdi village of Bhokardan taluka; Jui dam dry

Anwa: Bhokardan taluka is in severe drought this year, and the water supply of Vakdi, a village of about 5,000 people, has broken down. Because the pipeline keeps bursting, the village has had no tap water for the past 15 days, and residents are depending on private wells.

After a 30-year wait, a ₹1.22-crore scheme under the Chief Minister's rural drinking water programme was sanctioned for the village in 2018. It has still not been completed. Villagers allege that the pipeline bursts three or four times a month and that the poor quality of work wrecked the scheme within two years.

With a long break in the rains, the Jui dam in the taluka has gone dry and the public wells have no water either. The gram panchayat has now begun laying a new pipeline.

The Vakdi gram panchayat is currently run by an administrator. Villagers accuse the administrator and officials of ignoring the water problem, and there is strong resentment in the village.

Source: Pudhari