A CORRESPONDENT
DIBRUGARH: The ambitious Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), launched to ensure safe and adequate drinking water for households, has reportedly failed to deliver its promised benefits in several tea garden areas across Assam. While water taps have been installed in many labour colonies, residents allege that there has been no water supply even a year after the infrastructure was put in place.
Residents of Borbaruah Tea Estate said they continue to depend on hand tubewells for drinking water despite the installation of JJM taps. “The taps were installed one year ago, but there is still no water supply. We are using a hand tubewell for drinking water. What is the point of installing taps if no water is provided?” a woman from the estate said.
The project, being implemented by the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED), has come under criticism over its slow progress and alleged irregularities. Lakhindra Kurmi, Assistant General Secretary of the Assam Tea Tribes Students’ Association (ATTSA), Central Committee, alleged that contractors associated with the scheme had misused crores of rupees allocated for the project.
Kurmi further claimed that the primary objective of providing safe drinking water to tea garden communities remains unfulfilled. He also alleged that a lack of coordination between tea garden managements and the government has turned the project into a “money-making machinery” for contractors instead of delivering essential services to beneficiaries.
The allegations have raised fresh concerns over the implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission in Assam’s tea garden areas, where access to safe drinking water continues to remain a major challenge despite significant public investment.
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