On forgotten sandbank, thirst is the poll issue

NARUKHAKICHAR (Murshidabad): When polling officials landed on this sandbank on the border of India and Bangladesh at 3pm on Wednesday , they hadn't expected to be besieged by hundreds, clamouring that they wouldn't vote unless tubewells are repaired.
Some 2,500 people call this `char' on River Padma their home and they have only 10 tubewells to share in this searing 40-plus heat.The 22 others, spread across Jothbiswanathpur, Narukhaki, Chargotha and Hatatpara villages are defunct for years.
The polling officials had no option but to get in touch with people at Kantakhali on the mainland and arrange for people to repair tubewells. The boat that ferried them to the sandbank started back for Kantakhali around 4.30pm. It would take more than an hour to get back with repairmen -well past curfew time at 5pm."The administration has been assuring us for months that the tubewells would be repaired. When the BDO visited on April 17, he said it would be done in a few days but nothing happened. We have nothing here. We are not even treated as citizens of the country but every time there are elections, we have to participate. How can people live without drinking water," asked Aliara Bibi of Jothbiswanathpur. Narukhakichar is now in Raghunathgunj assembly seat.
Life here is tough. There is no electricity, let alone a health centre. The lone primary school was gobbled up by erosion. Nearly 50% of the population is illiterate. If someone falls ill, villagers have to plead with BSF to allow a boat to ply. The boatman charges whatever he feels like. Crossborder smuggling is so rampant that it sustains the population. Villagers practice a barter system of sorts -they borrow food from neighbours and replenish from the mainland. Crop looting by Bangladeshi gangs is common.
Over 70 families in Jothbiswanathpur are living under tarpaulin sheets since a fire on April 14 razed their homes."The administration has given no assistance," said Muslim Sk, an village elder. And this is where they will again vote on Thursday . For hope.