Several families in the West Kanchanmala area under the Golaghati Assembly constituency continue to struggle with irregular drinking water supply despite the installation of a pump under the Jal Jeevan Mission, local residents alleged on Saturday. The issue has caused growing resentment among villagers, who say the scheme has failed to deliver its intended benefits on the ground.
The problem has been reported from the locality near West Kanchanmala Senior Basic School, where a drinking water pump was installed a few years ago as part of the Centre’s flagship Jal Jeevan Mission, aimed at providing tap water connections to every household. While the pump remains operational, villagers claim that water supply is uneven, with only a section of households receiving water regularly and many others facing persistent shortages.
Affected residents alleged that poor-quality pipelines were laid during the execution of the project, leading to frequent leakages. According to them, low water pressure combined with damaged and substandard pipelines has resulted in water seeping out at multiple points, disrupting supply to several homes and rendering the system ineffective.
Locals further claimed that they had repeatedly informed officials of the Drinking Water and Sanitation department about the problems, but no corrective measures have been taken so far. They alleged that although funds were sanctioned to provide drinking water connections to all households, irregularities during the implementation phase have deprived many families of access to safe drinking water.
Due to the erratic supply, villagers said they are forced to fetch water from distant sources or neighbouring areas, causing hardship, especially for women and elderly residents. This, they added, defeats the very purpose of the Jal Jeevan Mission, which was launched to ease the burden of water collection and ensure clean drinking water at the household level.
On Saturday morning, residents gathered and spoke to media persons to draw attention to their grievances. They urged the state government and the concerned department to conduct a thorough inspection of the project, repair the damaged pipelines, and ensure a regular and equitable water supply to all households in West Kanchanmala at the earliest.
