Residents of Jaipur’s Nandpuri protest contaminated water supply

Jaipur: Residents of Nandpuri in the Bais Godam area staged a protest Friday after allegedly receiving foul-smelling and contaminated water for more than a week. Women from Gali No. 4 of Ward 146 gathered on the streets carrying utensils and plates, raised slogans against the govt and the administration.

They said the poor water supply started affecting their health, with several residents complaining of stomach pain and diarrhoea. In many homes, taps either released dirty water or no water at all, forcing families to buy water cans for daily use.

Parveen Begum, a resident of the locality, said, “It has been over seven days now. The govt water supply comes for barely half an hour or one hour in a day, and even that water is dirty and foul-smelling. We are spending Rs 30 on each water can because we have no other option. I am suffering from stomach pain and my children are dealing with diarrhoea.”

Residents alleged that repeated complaints to Jaipur Municipal Corporation, former ward councillor Kavita Katariya and the govt helpline 181 failed to bring any relief.

Sohail Khan, another resident, said the situation became particularly difficult for elderly people in the area. “My mother is very old and her health has deteriorated because of this. We are struggling to get treatment at govt hospitals, and private treatment is expensive. The govt charges us for water, but what we are getting is not fit for use,” he said.

Following the protest, Karan Sharma, former councillor of Ward 134, visited the locality. “I had to step in because the ward’s former councillor was not listening to residents’ complaints. I have given Mangtu Ram Jain, executive engineer, public health engineering department, 24 hours to fix the problem. If the situation is not resolved, we will stage a protest outside the PHED office,” Sharma said.

After the protest and threat of a sit-in, repair work on the damaged pipeline finally started in the area.