With no wells or handpumps, locals in Chhattisgarh's village say forced to consume drain water

Villagers in Sanmandra in Chhattisgarh's Balrampur district say they are forced to consume dirty water that they have to fetch from streams and drains in the absence of a handpump or well in the village.

A villager said, "We are forced to consume contaminated water and keep falling ill. No proper source of water is available in our village. There are no proper roads either."

"Not a single hand pump has been installed in the village by the administration, there is a concrete stream in the name of water facility. As our village is situated in a remote area, people here are not getting proper water facilities like the other areas of the state."

They said that they obtained approval to construct a well and construction has begun. However, locals complained that a JCB was used instead of manual labourers due to which villagers expecting employment didn't get any work.

The village also faces difficulties as the area is devoid of a pucca road, forcing them to take a rocky pathways if they have to go out of their village.

"In case somebody falls ill, we carry them for about 5 km before getting an auto to take them to the hospital. Students carry their bicycles on shoulders to go to school," rued a villager.

"In the absence of a proper road, ambulances do not come to the village," another local said.

The villagers claimed that the government is fooling them with promises of development while seeking votes. "The government representatives take votes from us every time by making false promises, but later no one listens to our problem."

Meanwhile, Rita Yadav, Zilla panchayat CEO said, "Under MGNREGA, a community tubewell is being set up. If more wells are needed, we'll dig that too immediately. As far as the road is concerned, it comes under the Forest Department I have spoken to the DFO, he has assured me that a road will be built."

The Sanmandra village is inhabited by the Korwa tribe of the Munda origin, which is a specially backward tribe residing in the border areas of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.

( With inputs from ANI )