Residents protest contaminated drinking water supply in Bhiwani locality

Upset with the failure of the authorities concerned to ensure water supply, residents staged protest demonstrations to demand access to clean and adequate drinking water in Bhiwani town.

The residents of Brahma Colony, MC Colony and Durga Colony in the line par area of the town have been facing persistent problems of contaminated and insufficient drinking water supply for a long time.

The councillor of the Ward19, Shiv Kumar Gothwal, alleged that for the past several months, sewer water was mixing with the drinking water supply in the area, posing serious health risks to the locals. He said at many places, the water was so contaminated that it was unfit for human consumption and could not be used for other domestic works. Moreover, he alleged, the water supply was irregular and occasionally there was no supply for up to two days.

Gothwal said the problem had persisted for nearly a year. Despite repeatedly informing the Executive Engineer, Junior Engineer of the Public Health Engineering Department, no solution was provided. He alleged the residents of Brahma Colony had not received a single drop of water for the past 20 days.

Gothwal added that the water booster station serving the MC Colony and Durga Colony was too small to meet the area’s needs. Although a proposal to build a water storage tank was passed in the municipal House meeting and a location was marked by the PHED, actual construction was yet to begin.

Rohtash Verma, convener of the Railway Underpass Mahapanchayat Shri Jeetuwala, warned that the contaminated supply could spread water-borne diseases in the localities. He stated that if the issue was not resolved within the next few days, the residents would be forced to escalate their protest. Many residents, including Kuldeep Tanwar, Radheshyam Chawla, Ramsingh Vaid, and others, were present during the protest.

Haryana Tribune