Some areas under the Dabgram-II gram panchayat have been reeling under an acute crisis of drinking water. According to locals, they are now at the receiving end.
People living at the South Santinagar area alleged that although they got the household connection of piped water under the Jal Jeevan Mission (Jal Swapno in Bengal) around two years ago, drinking water had remained elusive. Expressing disgust at the situation, a house maker, Gauri Roy, said they had to devote extra time to fetch water from adjoining areas.
Dabgram-Fulbari MLA of the BJP Sikha Chatterjee trained guns at the local panchayat for the situation.
According to Mrs Chatterjee, people of Ektiasal, Chayan Para and Fakdaibari had been grappling with the acute drinking water crisis.
“We received the water connections around two years ago, but the taps have remained dry. We did not see any initiative on the ground. The situation is worsening. We are demanding immediate steps to fix the crisis,” Mrs Roy said. Some areas under the Fulbari-I and Fulbari-II gram panchayats are also facing drinking water problems.
Four rural bodies–Fulbari-I and II and Dabgram-I and II–under the Rajganj block in Jalpaiguri district will go for the rural elections.
When contacted, chief of the Trinamul Congress-run Dabgram-II gram panchayat, Sudha Singha Chatterjee, said they had requested the PHE department to address the problem.”There are two main reservoirs, but some more sub reservoirs need to be set up. PHE had sought land for at least four sub reservoirs.The process of setting up one of the reservoirs at Chotafafri is underway. People will get water under the Jal Swapno scheme by 2024,” she said.