GURUGRAM: Located just 60 km from the Millennium City, residents of 30 Nuh villages, which are yet to get drinking water supply, have offered to “trade” their votes in return for free tanker supply. Though this mockery of democracy is shocking, for 50,000 residents of these villages, water is clearly more valuable than votes.
With no regular supply, villagers rely on water supply via tankers that in peak summer season cost around Rs 5,000 per tanker. Many villagers get illegal underwater reservoirs or ‘kunds’ constructed for a group of houses, but these are regularly refilled by tankers only. Groundwater is not an option for villagers owing to salinity and most ponds have dried up.
“Getting drinking water is part of our daily struggle. Be it the panchayat poll or Lok Sabha election, politicians only promise water supply, but they do not do anything for it. In summers, the tankers start costing around Rs 5,000. We can’t afford that much,” says Mehmooda, 50, of Kotla village.
“Now, we have tied up with a local leader who gets tanker supply regularly. He will allow us to use water from his reservoir (kund) for a year free of cost and all 10 women voters in our family will vote for him,” adds Mehmooda even as her 10-year-old granddaughter nudges her to remain quiet.
Similarly, women in Banarasi, Nizampur, Nuh, Akera, Malab, Salaheri, Moolthan, Khanpur, Jogipur, Kheri, Mohammadpur, Sheikhpur, Rajaka, Madhi and other villages have asked leaders to assure them funds for buying tanker water in return for votes.
“We have 20 voters in our family. We have made it clear that we will vote for the party that gets a kund, costing Rs 40,000, constructed for us. Agents of all parties have been informed. We don’t know whether it is right or wrong, but we will make best of the opportunity and ensure our children don’t have to struggle for the basic necessity of life,” says Khatuni, 48, from Banarasi village.
In 2019, the Centre had launched the Har Ghar Nal Yojana with an aim to provide piped water to every household in rural areas by 2024. Haryana was among the top three states to have implemented the scheme, but many Nuh villages did not get water supply even though in some areas pipelines were laid.
“This is the true face of the ‘Viksit Bharat’ in the backyard of the national capital. For 10 years, Nuh was punished by the BJP government for not supporting them. They stalled Congress’ water supply schemes. They have not assured water to these people so what do you expect them to do?” said Congress MLA from Nuh Aftab Ahmed.