Acting on the mounting grievances of the people, reeling for long under acute drinking water scarcity, Chief Minister Harish Rawat issued a public statement on Sunday, advising his drinking water minister, Mantri Prashad Naithani, who is presently busy in leading a religious procession across the State, to take prompt initiatives to resolve the dragging crisis.
Naithani claims he is not oblivious of the crisis while leading the religious rally. However, things on the ground look grave. The tube-wells remaining non-functional for days keep hitting drinking water supply in Fatehpur and its adjacent areas elsewhere in Haldwani. It might take at least four to five days to have the faulty tube-wells repaired at Fatehpur with the repairing process being on, said the officials concerned of Jal Sansthan, Haldwani. Gola river — the main source of drinking water for Haldwani — drying up in the surging mercury is adding to the crisis.
However, aside from the natural cause, nonchalance on the part of the officials concerned can be held responsible for the sorry state of things. With tendering process on, the administration is unable to fit stabilizers with the tube-wells. It is said that frequent voltage fluctuations are rendering the tube-wells dysfunctional. “The apathy of the government officials has much to account for the worsening drinking water crisis here. Things should have been put on the right tracks much before the crisis cropped up. But here things are moving in the reverse direction,” said an aggrieved inhabitant of Haldwani.
Besides, the dismal state of the drinking water distribution system keeps affecting supply to distant areas of Haldwani. The public representatives claim to have ushered in a lot of developments in Haldwani. But the reality here is that Haldwani city and its adjacent areas are still dependent on an old — about five-decade-old drinking water distribution network — for supply. Parts of Haldwani which are badly affected by the crisis include Indira Nagar, Fatehpur and its adjacent areas like Peepalpokhra, Gujraura, Dahariya, Durga Vihar, Swami Vihar and Banbhoolpura.