By TC News Desk
Agartala, 4th May 2024: In the remote Shivbari village of Unakoti district, the Reang community is grappling with a severe water crisis. Despite being beneficiaries of the government’s Jal Jeevan Mission, aimed at providing clean drinking water to every household, the residents are yet to see the fruits of this initiative.
Shivbari, located approximately 8 kilometers from the district headquarters of Kailashahar, is home to around 60 families, comprising over two hundred members of the Reang community. While most families have received housing under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, a significant number are still awaiting their homes.
The promise of 24-hour electricity remains unfulfilled, with villagers experiencing only 6 to 7 hours of power supply, making it a distant dream rather than a daily reality.
The Jal Jeevan Mission’s campaign has yet to deliver clean water to Reang slum. Allegations have surfaced that government water vehicles, which occasionally delivered water to the slums, have not been seen in the past month. Consequently, the villagers’ sole source of water is the river, with some trekking for an hour to fetch water from atop a dune.
With low rainfall exacerbating the situation, the community’s plea to the government is simple: provide at least one water truck daily to alleviate their suffering. The scarcity of clean water from springs and streams in the hilly terrain has led to various water-borne diseases among the villagers, who endure long waits to fill a single pitcher with mountain water.
The acute water shortage forces residents to undertake arduous journeys to collect water, highlighting the urgent need for effective implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission in Shivbari. The Bikash Tripura scenario underscores the challenges faced by hill-based villages in accessing one of life’s most essential resources: clean water.
