ITImphal, Dec 6: Failure to provide safe drinking water facility by the Irilbung rural water supply scheme for many years has infuriated the Keirao locals, prompting them to shut down the water supply scheme indefinitely.
Irate locals of Keirao bitra Awang Leikai under the aegis of Irilbung Library Union locked the pump house of the scheme situated near the Irilbung bridge at about 9 am this morning.
Irilbung Library Union, Chairman Salam Madhumangol said that people of Keirao bitra, particularly the inhabitants residing between the stretch between Irilbung bridge to Keirao Tarung Makhong have been denied safe drinking water by the Irilbung water supply scheme (rural) for the last 20 years. Local club had earlier appealed to the department concerned to provide drinking water to the villagers. Despite repeated appeals, no authority paid any heed to the public grievances and managed to take up befitting action to this effect.
A public meeting held at the complex of Irilbung Library Union, Keirao Bitra this morning took serious note of the government’s apathy to the villagers and unanimously resolved to shut down the water supply scheme indefinitely with immediate effect demanding safe drinking water to the aggrieved people.
He said that Irilbung water supply scheme comprises two schemes rural and urban. Augmentation of Water Supply for Imphal City Phase-I at Irilbung constructed by the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) was commissioned in 2007. It was constructed under the Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR) at an estimated cost of Rs 816.66 lakhs with the main objective of providing safe drinking water to the people in Imphal city. This Urban water supply scheme is now properly working and supplying regular drinking water to Imphal city area while the rural water supply scheme fails to provide even a single drop of drinking water to the local people.
“PHED ignores the local people while it manages to provide water to the VIPs and urban people. Local people living near the water resource area are denied safe drinking water while people in the city are enjoying our water resources. We will not allow the department to use our water resource and provide drinking water to other areas until and unless the local people are provided drinking water,” he said.
Despite the fact that all the water pipelines at Keirao bitra installed 50/60 years back are now almost worn out and got rusted, the department fails to replace the old pipelines with new ones. Our demand to replace with new pipelines was denied by the PHED officials giving lame excuse that the department had run out stock of pipes.
A memorandum was also submitted to the chief engineer PHED demanding drinking water to the people at the earliest.
