Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Frustrated by the lack of action on their water crisis, villagers from Sehore walked 60 kilometers to Bhopal on Wednesday to seek justice at the Divisional Commissioner’s office.
The villagers carried a five-meter-long chain of applications, highlighting their repeated but ignored complaints about the severe water shortage in their village.
While the Madhya Pradesh government is running the Jal Ganga Conservation Campaign from April 1 to June 30, the residents of Bishankhedi village in Sehore are facing a severe water crisis.
According to information, the villagers have complained multiple times, from the Panchayat Secretary to the Sehore Collector, but no action has been taken to dig even a single borewell in the village.
Losing hope in the district administration, the villagers walked 60 kilometers to Bhopal on Wednesday, carrying a five-meter-long chain of applications, to seek justice from the Divisional Commissioner’s office.
Earlier, they had also submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister and Chief Secretary, requesting permission for borewell digging.
The Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department had issued instructions to dig a borewell, but the work has not been carried out. On Wednesday, Bajrangi Nagar, a resident of Bishankhedi, along with other villagers, reached the Divisional Commissioner’s office with over 100 applications.
They submitted a memorandum to Divisional Commissioner Sanjeev Singh, demanding the immediate digging of a borewell in the Dhakad Mohalla, Murli Dhar Bada area of Bishankhedi.
However, they alleged that due to the interference of the Sarpanch’s husband and political pressure, the PHE department is not allowed to use machines for borewell digging. Whenever a machine is brought, it is sent away.
The villagers also revealed that the PHE Department in Sehore has provided five electric pumps to the Bishankhedi Panchayat in the past five years, but their whereabouts are unknown. They have demanded an investigation into the matter.
Last year, the Sarpanch’s husband reportedly had a government borewell dug at his own house, but later removed the pump, making it disappear. In a village with more than 2,000 people, there are 20 handpumps, but only two are functional, while the rest have dried up.
The villagers are now hoping for immediate action to resolve their water crisis before the situation worsens further.
