Welfare Party of India, the political arm of the Jamaat-e–Islami Hind has submitted a report to the government after surveying the intensity of the drought in Bidar. “We have urged the government to start drought relief works immediately,” WPI leaders told presspersons here on Saturday.
According to the report, the situation was very critical in 107 villages. The State government is yet to reach out fully to the most affected villages, the report notes.
“In most villages, officials are reportedly negligent of their duties. In some others, officials said that they had no money to take up even simple works like motor repair and laying pipelines. In other villages, people are dependent upon private individuals for drinking water,” Mujahid Pasha Qureshi, district president said.
He said that with the exception of Eshwar Khandre, Bhalki MLA, no other MLA has been visiting villages. Even senior officials were not visiting villages. He alleged that officials had stopped MNREGA works in Aurad within 15 days of the Chief Minister visiting the taluk. “Farmers can take away tank bed soil for free, but lorry owners are charging exorbitant prices for transporting it to their fields,” he said.
In villages like Badagaon, Gadlegaon, Ladha, Honnaddi, Meenkera, Kohinoor and Tegampur, the tanker mafia is making money by falsely claiming to have supplied water several times to residential areas. In some villages, tanker water is not of potable quality, Mr. Qureshi said.
According to the report, in most villages, the groundwater level has depleted and surface water sources have dried up. Village women are tasked with fetching water by walking for miles. In some wards in Aurad, women wait till midnight to collect two pots of water. There are several villages where there is no water and families are forced to get water from nearby fields, it said.
‘We have urged the government to start the drought relief works immediately’
