Water water not a drop to drink!

Seventy years have been passed since the independence of India during which as many as thirteen governments came in our state. But none of them, mostly that of Congress, took any tangible step towards solving the chronic scarcity of potable water. There has been no development in the availability of potable water in the vast part of the fast-developing Khanapara area covering Shiva Mandir Road, Janapath etc. of the city. Water is still off in the smart city although the prime responsibility of providing potable water to all households rests with the State Government as per provision embodied in the Constitution of India under item 17 of List II — State List.

People in the area in the past used to collect water for their use through their own sources like wells, hand-pumps, shallow digging etc. But by the time the existing sources became defunct and dud due to the sinking water level which ultimately has dragged the consumers to resort to purchase their daily requirement of water from the auto van hawkers that too at a hefty charge causing consequential extra financial burden.

Against such a backdrop it is suggested that the Government should appreciably come out to vouchsafe relief to a reasonable extent by way of subsidy as is with the electricity and LPG in a bid to mitigate their financial exigency till the piped water is made available.

Sarat Chandra Saikia,

Khanapara