Aiming to save their womenfolk from age-old water related harassment, nearly 6,500 inhabitants of five most parched villages of Lalitpur have decided to abstain from polling in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections on Monday.
The ire of these villagers is not without reason.
The cluster of villages comprising Lalaun, Gulenda, Kasa, Chakra and Rajpur are ironically close to water-abundant Raghat canal and Kheran rivulet which flow barely a kilometre-and-a-half away. Despite the proximity to these water bodies, local officials have not taken any pain to connect these villages to a steady supply of water.
What is more worrying for the villagers is that by the middle of May, the handful of hand pumps found there will go dry, forcing local women and children to trudge a kilometre or more to fetch water for daily chores. The trauma of the womenfolk does not end here. To collect water for the next morning’s chores, they wait for their turns by the hand pump through the night, expecting some replenishment in the water level, which again is for a limited time and inadequate for all the families.
With a population of 3,200-3,500 each, there are nearly 1,400-1,500 voters in each of these villages and they have decided not to exercise their right to franchise to draw the attention of the authorities, and the “government” in Lucknow, to their woes.
A simple query on well-being made a villagers’ group at a tea stall near Gulenda, erupt. Amid the din and indistinct chatter in Bundeli dialect, a contractor with Jal Nigam, Shyam Thakur, took the centre stage to explain the gravity of the situation.
“Water scarcity in Bundelkhand has become part of our lifestyle. We live close to two major water bodies which flow through the year without drying up. Our grouse is that politicians and district authorities have abandoned us to nature’s mercy and have refused to look into the problem, let alone redress it. I had to shift 10 km away to Talbehat tehsil headquarters to avoid the daily trauma, but not everyone can afford it.”
“The solution to our problem is not at all cost-extensive. You see, the perennial flow in Kheran river is due to seepage of water from Rajghat canal built on Betwa river. That river water could be lifted by heavy duty motors and channelled to a common distributing chamber at Gulendi and later distributed to the parched villages nearby. We requested officials on this score several times and also drew up a plan encompassing various aspects, especially cost which was peanuts as compared to other irrigation facilities. But the file was shelved,” Thakur said.
“Only last month, about 1,000 residents from these villagers approached the district magistrate of Lalitpur, only to be handed out an assurance. Earlier we had met the local BJP legislator, only to be promised quick redressal of the problem. We are tired of these assurances. Are we expendable?” Thakur asked.
Taking over from Thakur, Kamal, a Sahariya tribal, pointed out, “Look, with limited water and irrigation, we are unable to harvest more than one produce. Sahariya tribals were given 4.68 acres of land by the government for sustenance. But some of these tracts are rocky and even located in hills. Those who have land, do not have the additional resources for irrigation, in case of scanty rainfall. And we cannot do a thing about it as the officials just don’t listen to our grievances. This also results in migration of able-bodied tribals for employment.”
Seventy-year old Munni Sahariya is one of the many unfortunate families whose male members have migrated for employment.
“I have enough land but due to scant rains last year we could not grow much corn or dal (pulse). We could not afford the irrigation. To feed us, my son Khabbu migrated with his wife and son to Indore and is working at a brick kiln there. I am left alone and feel miserable, but what to do,” lamented the woman with tears welling in her eyes.
Summing up the common refrain, Thakur explained, “We have been cheated by the politicians for decades. The officials have not been kind to us due to lack of political follow-up. After days of discussions with local villagers in recent days, it has been decided that we will not vote. Maybe this should act as a wake-up call for the powers that be and put our troubles to end.”