The blue elixir crisis: A river city that has existed since antiquity

Guwahati! A river city that has existed since antiquity and held its position as a resourceful palace for both new settlers and old indigenous people. To the north, it is accompanied by the mighty river Brahmaputra, which is the prime reason for its soil’s fertility and the richness of other resources that the city possesses. So, for a city like Guwahati, it should be smooth sailing for the inhabitants in living their day-to-day lives with the utmost satisfaction; at least they should not face any crisis related to clean water. But funnily enough, they do, and they are tackling a massive crisis related to water and its supply.

Many households in Guwahati are in panic mode regarding the supply of clean water, or even if they get pure water, the amount of it is always up for question. As many households have to be in line for countless hours, from dawn till dusk, it is not a guarantee that they will receive the sufficient amount that they require and thrive for. The only people that have to manage their livelihoods in the name of “water management”Water Management”, are these people who are standing in line and expecting to fill their buckets. They have built a custom water reservoir where they fill the surplus amount of water when it is provided on some occasions, and restrict their habits of wasting water by using it as little as possible. The situation has gotten so bad that the people in their locality have to divide and schedule dates and times within their community for fetching water, as not all families can fetch water in a single day.

In these situations, we expect proper planning and plotting from the government authorities rather than the community members, who have to pigeonhole the idea of fetching water for themselves and its distribution within their own community. However, all the authority has to say on this topic is that they are trying to fix it or will resolve this issue as soon as possible.

But how long is too long, exactly? To be precise, the government’s policy for providing clean and fresh water to every household is long overdue, as it was announced way back in 2009, while taking some little measures in between. For most of the time, our authorities have shied away from this topic with absolute silence.

We get that it is now very hard to implement a well-equipped water supply treatment system without any falters of their own, as the blueprint of the city has become more compact with time and it is hard to navigate a proper pipeline system without shutting down roads or pathways. Yet, the people of Guwahati are very hopeful, as one day their wait for fetching water in long queues will be over. For that to happen, our authorities need to keep an eye on this topic and consider a solid resolution for it.

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