Most of the villages in Bastar division are prone to water scarcity, specially in summer months.
Though State Government chalked out a number of taped water supply schemes to get rid of this perennial problem but some time geo spatial condition and some time non availability of power hampered the State Government’s schemes.
The result is that out of 111 tape water supply schemes sanctioned for Bastar district only 66 could be completed forcing thousands of families to depend on natural water resources, which often proves hazardous.
Meanwhile, as the natural water resources are drying up fast due to rising temperature, government officials are trying to escape their responsibility by assigning different reasons for failure of drinking water supply schemes leading to a number of villages under Tokapal block facing severe scarcity of drinking water these days.
To get rid of the problem, the public health engineering department has decided to establish water tanks equipped with pumps driven by solar power system in each of the selected villages. Pumps connected to the solar power system will fill the tank and villagers will be able to get drinking water as per their requirement. The tank will also have additional monitoring system which will prevent misuse of the water.
The department has started preparations to provide relief to drinking water scarcity hit villages under the NCF Scheme. According to PHE department officials 339 villages have been selected under the scheme.
As per the scheme, expenses incurred on establishment of these water supply schemes will depend on population of the villages. While village having less than 150 population `5.10 lakh will be sanctioned whereas village having more than 150 population will be given `5.76 lakh. These water supply schemes will be completed in next 2 years.
Executive engineer of PHE department S K Chandra said that for starting the establishment of drinking water supply under NCF scheme tenders have already been issued whereas work on the remaining 45 tap water supply projects will also commence soon. These projects will help solve the drinking water problem in the area up to great extent, Chandra added.
Notably, the State Government has assigned the responsibility of solving the water scarcity problem in rural areas to PHE department.