Residents protest water shortage and contaminated drinking water in aleo village near manali

Kullu: Residents of Aleo village near Manali on Monday protested against the jal shakti department over water shortage and the supply of contaminated drinking water.The residents took out a protest march in Manali town, holding bottles filled with dirty water collected from their households, while shouting slogans against the department officials. The march culminated at the office of the jal shakti department, where villagers accused the officials present of overlooking their demand for safe and clean drinking water for years.The residents told the officials they had been forced to drink contaminated water for years, alleging that the department had failed to take steps to resolve the problem. Some agitated residents even threatened to make the officials drink the contaminated water to show them the severity of the issue, but others intervened and stopped them.The villagers also accused officials of prioritising hotels over residential areas in the supply of clean drinking water. They demanded that Aleo be supplied water from Hamta, a high-altitude area above the village, instead of the hydro project site."We have been telling the officials where we can get safe drinking water; all the department has to do is build a water tank and lay the pipes. But they are not willing to do anything. If the department officials don't start this work within a week, we would be forced to launch another agitation," said Chaman Thakur, a resident of Aleo village.The department officials tried to appease the agitated crowd by telling them that the water quality deteriorated due to melting snow, which caused soil to enter the pipes with the water.However, unsatisfied with the officials' reasoning, villagers resumed shouting slogans."The problem of contaminated water in this area is not something new. We have been facing it for years, and for the past one week we are not even getting a proper water supply. The water quality is so bad that our children fall ill frequently, and we are forced to buy bottled water for drinking," said Prabha Kaushal, another resident of Aleo village.According to Manali Jal Shakti Vibhag sub-divisional officer (SDO) Dikshant Sharma, there is a shortage of water in the area, as one of the two water sources is disconnected."Aleo receives drinking water from two sources located in Hamta and from a nearby hydro project. However, sudden melting of snow due to early warming of the weather triggered landslides in the Hamta area, which in turn caused turbidity due to the mixing of soil. As a result, we were forced to disconnect supply from the hydro project. As the population of the areas grew over the years and commercial consumption is also rising due to hotels, the lone water supply is falling short," said Sharma."We started supplying water on a roster basis due to the shortage. But we will solve this problem in the next 20 to 25 days, as the department has floated tenders for new water works," added Sharma. MSID:: 129333280 413 |