Nabarangpur For the past two months, Dhangar Bheja village under Nandahandi block in Nabarangpur district has been facing an acute drinking water crisis. Despite repeated complaints, the issue remains unresolved. According to the villagers, departmental officials are neglecting their grievances. As a result, hundreds of families are struggling without access to safe drinking water.
Repeated appeals have been made to the Block Rural Water Supply Engineer, Jay Prakash Mishra, but the problems persist. Even worse, the engineer allegedly dismissed women’s concerns outright. Left with no other option, a large number of village women arrived at the Nandahandi Block Office carrying empty earthen pots and staged a protest.
Following this, Block Development Officer (BDO) Kshirod Chandra Sahu assured the protesting women that drinking water supply to the village would be restored within two days. Based on this assurance, the women called off their protest.
Context:
Dhangar Bheja village has more than 500 households and a population exceeding 2,000. For the past two months, the village has been reeling under a water shortage. The deep borewell installed under the Basudha scheme is not supplying water due to a significant drop in the water table. Previously, a mega water supply project had been running, but due to road and drainage construction, water pipes in some places burst, leaving the supply disrupted for over a week.
Tube well water is also not drinkable, as it is contaminated with iron particles and has a muddy color. Under these circumstances, residents of all four wards of the village are facing a severe water crisis. Despite repeated pleas, no concrete solution has been offered by the authorities.
Due to this inaction, many women from the village gathered in front of the block office today to demonstrate. However, BDO Kshirod Chandra Sahu gave a firm assurance to restore water supply within two days, after which the women withdrew the protest.
The women have warned that if the issue is not resolved within the promised time, they will stage another protest. Villagers have requested the district administration to immediately resolve the drinking water issue. Senior lawyer of Nabarangpur, Mr. Srikant Panda, stated that the public is suffering due to the negligent attitude of Engineer Jay Prakash Mishra.