Villagers in Kanke vote for end to water crisis
RANCHI: Residents of Borea village in Kanke block, 10km from the chief minister’s residence in Ranchi, flocked to polling booths in large numbers during Panchayat polls on Sunday to vote for water.
Surrounded by several rivulets, the farmers in this block face severe water crisis and their anger was crystal clear in the words of Nirmala Devi, who cast her vote at a booth in Borea middle school.
She told Hindustan Times, “Though rivers surround our village, the government has done a precious little to provide water to our farms.”
Similarly, a small colony, Choritola, about five km from Borea, is waiting for water supply for over five years.
A 48- year- old smalltime businessman Shamim Hassan said the water lines removed during a road-widening work f ive years ago were never restored.
“At least five families in the locality fetch water from a house which has underground boring,” he said.
Sarfaraaz Ahmad, 30, a betel shop owner, lamented: “The situation becomes worse during summers when the underground water level goes down and we are left with no alternative to quench our thirst at least for a month.”
As a majority of residents at Choritola does not deal with farming, the water crisis does not affect their daily life.
However, the water crisis has compelled many farmers in Borea to dispose of their lands and work as labourers and Sorraj Mandal is one of them.
He said, “All of us are farmers. More than 50% of our crops withered this year, as we do not have enough resources to water our fields.”
Mandal said he hoped that the new Panchaya thead (Mukhiya) would take up the issue of water with Kanke legislator Jeetu Charan Ram.
“We need an active Mukhiya to deal with our problems. A check dam is a must for us,” he said.
Similarly, Kumaria with 100 households is another hamlet in the block facing a drought-like situation.
Owing to poor crop yield in the village this year, the farmers could not even provide enough fodder to their cattle.
More than ten lakh people live in Kanke spread over 524 square km and a majority of them depend on agriculture.
All of us are farmers. More than 50% of our crops withered this year, as we do not have enough resources to water our fields SORRAJ MANDAL, Farmer