The members of the Uttarakhand Peyjal Nigam Employees and Officers’ Coordination Association continued with their statewide indefinite strike in support of their demands on Wednesday. The strike had begun on Tuesday.
Prior to starting the strike, they had locked the offices of the Peyjal Nigam for a week from December 7.
Their charter of demands include unification of the Jal Nigam and Jal Sansthan and giving the employees of the Nigam the status of Government employees.
The agitators had staged a sit-in in the premises of the Chief Engineer’s office on Tuesday. The saga of protest continued on Wednesday too. The agitation has affected construction and other development works worth crores, sources say.
Meanwhile, the indefinite strike of Uttarakhand Diploma Engineers’ Mahasangh has entered its 15th day on Tuesday. The Jal Sansthan’s diploma engineers having thrown their weight behind the Mahasangh agitation.
The ongoing strike that has already crippled development works being done under these departments might affect drinking water supply too in the mountainous districts spread across Garhwal region in the coming days. Things look serious on the development plan with just 55 percent of funds released under the budget of the district having been spent so far. If things continue this way the development of the hill districts under Garhwal region would be gravely affected, say the observers. The situations have come to such a pass that even the development works on the projects announced by Chief Minister Harish Rawat have remained stalled.
Sources say that if the strike involving Jal Nigam employees and diploma engineers continues things would get stalled vis-a-vis the district plan, sector plan and the Centrally aided plans.