- Due to irrigation of bean lentil, there is only a small amount of water left in dam
Chronicle Reporter, Begumganj
Semri Dam is on the verge of drying up due to water being drawn to irrigate crops in the fields.
Drinking water has not been supplied by the Municipal Council for the last 3 days due to the water not reaching the intake well because of there being only a nominal amount of water left in the dam. Anger is increasing among the people craving for a drop of water. At present, there is an outcry regarding water in the rural areas including the city. Citizens allege that the water sources within the city were completely destroyed by the previous municipal councils. At present, drinking water is being supplied only from Semri Reservoir, but due to lack of water in Semri Reservoir, there is no drinking water supply for the last three days and around one lakh population of the city is yearning for every drop of water. Today, the situation has become worse due to the absence of any other source of drinking water in the city. The angry people have blamed the government and administration and alleged that the drinking water supply in the city has come to a standstill for the last three days and no attention is being paid to it by the Municipal Council.
People are craving every drop of water. In such a situation, there is a danger of the situation getting worse. Here, the elected chairman and councilors of the Municipal Council are clarifying that the water supply is being affected due to low water level in the dam due to farmers irrigating bean lentil crop from Semri Reservoir.
When water is released into the Semri river through the Semri project, that water reaches the water store of the Municipal Council located near Sumer village and after being filtered from there, the water reaches the water tanks located in the city and is supplied in all the 18 wards. This system was running smoothly for the last decade, but this time when the administrative officials took action against the farmers who were irrigating the bean lentil crop with drinking water, political pressure came to the fore due to which the officials stopped the campaign. A situation has arisen where people are now yearning for every drop of water to drink.
5 flask water system
Chief Municipal Officer Krishnakant Sharma said that in view of the drinking water crisis, the Municipal Council has started providing water to the people in the wards suffering from drinking water crisis by renting three tankers of the Council, two fire brigades and 6 private tankers so that at least they can get drinking water. Water should be available. People suffering from water shortage said that currently arrangements have been made to provide only 5 flasks of water.
Dam dried up due to bean lentil crop irrigation
Semri project in-charge and SDO of Water Resources Department, Arvind Yadav, says that this year a lot of bean lentil crop has been sown by the nearby farmers in the area. Due to which the water of Semri Dam is used for irrigation and the dam has dried up. Only a little water is left. How can drinking water be supplied from it?
Both urban bodies and gram panchayats will have to make arrangements for drinking water at their own level. Otherwise the situation may become more critical.
