Congress to march on Jal Bhavan over Jaipur’s dirty water supply

Jaipur: Congress workers will take out a “Pani Yatra” on May 25 to protest contaminated water supply and drinking water shortages in Jaipur, with former minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas leading the march from his Civil Lines residence to Jal Bhavan, where the party plans a ‘matka-phod’ demonstration and will besiege the PHED headquarters.

Khachariyawas alleged that “dirty water” is being supplied across the city, making life miserable for residents, and accused the BJP govt of failing to put contingency arrangements in place before summer.

He said people were being forced to buy water cans for around Rs 50, while the tanker mafia was charging up to Rs 500 for supply. He also alleged the govt was not providing free water tankers despite drinking water being a basic necessity.

In protest against what he called the BJP govt’s “atrocities” and the worsening crisis, he said Congress workers would gather at Jal Bhavan and hold a matka-fod protest to “wake up the govt.”

The agitation will continue, he warned, until dirty water supply is resolved in Jaipur and across the state, and until adequate clean drinking water and free water tankers are provided.

Targeting Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma and PHED minister Kanhaiya Lal Choudhary, Khachariyawas alleged ministers and MLAs were indifferent to public suffering. “If residents in Jaipur itself were struggling for drinking water and facing contaminated supply, the situation in other parts of the state could be even worse,” he said.