Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
LATEST NEWS UPDATES | 68 years after freedom, only 6% houses in state get piped water -Sheezan Nezami

68 years after freedom, only 6% houses in state get piped water -Sheezan Nezami

Share this article Share this article
published Published on Sep 26, 2015   modified Modified on Sep 26, 2015
-The Times of India

PATNA: With election round the corner, politicians are making promises. One such promise has been made by CM Nitish Kumar: If voted to power, he would ensure piped water reaches every household in Bihar.

Sceptics ask how come as basic a human need as safe drinking water was not made available to the people of Bihar by their successive government in 68 years since independence. Piped water connection has reached only 6% households in the state. Even in the capital city of Patna, only 44.7% households have access to piped water, according to a survey carried out by an Institute for Human Development-Delhi associate fellow in 2014-15.

The state does not have a water treatment plant (WTP) in any of its towns, leave alone villages. "The groundwater in Patna is enough to be used for drinking purpose," explained a Bihar Rajya Jal Parshad official.

But arsenic content is high in the groundwater in several other places. A study done in 2010 by Prof A K Ghosh of A N College-Patna's department of environment and water management found Supaul, Darbhanga, Samastipur, Vaishali, Saran, Bhojpur, Katihar, Purnia and Kishanganj were the worst-hit districts. In Patna district, areas in Maner, Danapur and Bakhtiarpur are badly affected.

A public health and engineering department engineer, preferring anonymity, said arsenic was an issue in certain rural pockets. An agency has been tasked with doing a sample survey of 3.5 lakh hand pumps, and its report is expected by December this year.

Asked why WTPs were not installed in the affected areas, he claimed work was in progress in affected districts. A WTP in Maner was proposed in 2010, but the construction work could not start because of non-availability of land. "But our tube wells are quite deep and there is little possibility of high arsenic content in water in these tube wells," he said.

"There are many in my village who have developed health problems. But they are illiterate and do not understand the importance of safe drinking water," Durga Shankar Upadhyay of Chanda village in Buxar district told TOI and rued caste, not development issues, would determine the voting behaviour of these illiterate villagers. "Generations have suffered, but who cares? With netas smartly playing caste cards, development will never take place," Upadhyay said.

According to a World Health Organisation report, long-term exposure to arsenic in drinking water or food can cause cancer and skin lesions. It has also been associated with cardiovascular disease, neurotoxicity and diabetes.

Apart from arsenic, areas bordering Bihar and Jharkhand have high fluoride content while iron content is high in water in northeastern parts of Bihar.

In June 2012, Nitish's then urban development and housing minister Prem Kumar had announced that all the households located in the areas covered by the Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) would be provided 24X7 piped water by 2014.

While the announcement remained on paper, sources said an integrated project to supply water 24X7 in Patna was proposed long back, the funds for which were sanctioned under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission in 2009. The Bihar Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd was mandated to execute and accelerate this project estimated to cost Rs 548 crore. At least 72 overhead water tanks, were to come up in different parts of the city under the project which also included construction of a water treatment plant, tube wells and water pipeline of approximately 800km.

The fate of this ambitious project, however, has been hanging in the balance ever since the state government earlier this year blacklisted the firm which had been assigned the task to execute it. Fresh tenders have not been floated.

"Politicians make false promises," fumed Mohd Samo, a resident of Mehndi Nagar in Patna's Samanpura locality. He has to fetch water from his neighbour's house or a hand pump in his locality. Prashant Verma of Ramkrishna Nagar in PMC's ward number 30 is also angry. "We pay our taxes, including that for water supply, in time. But there is no water pipe in my locality," he said.

Having water supply pipe in your locality does not guarantee the end of your water woes. Homemaker Nitu Sinha of Patrakar Nagar in Kankerbagh says the water flowing out of the tap at her home is muddy and stinks. "Water pipes pass through drains and if they are leaking, the drain water gets mixed with the drinking water," she said.

Drain water mixing with piped water in Patna is an open secret, admits PMC's ward 4 councillor Abha Lata. "The Patna Water Board has enough stock of pipes lying in the office. But instead of replacing the old pipes with new ones, the water board workers tie layers of rope around the leaking points," she said.

Residents of Anandpuri, Nehru Nagar, Chainpur and Rajapur Pul areas in PMC ward number 22 have also frequently complained of dirty water flowing out of the taps. "I have raised this issue many a time, but to no avail," said ward councillor Sanjeev Kumar, who claims to have even staged dharnas over this issue.

The Times of India, 25 September, 2015, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/Talking-point-68-years-after-freedom-only-6-houses-in-state-get-piped-water/articleshow/49108786.cms


Related Articles

 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close