SHILLONG: Rice and other essentials are still available during lockdown but residents of Harijan Colony in Mawlonghat and Cantonment are living on dry hopes when it comes to water.
The numerous jerry cans placed in a neat line in front of the now closed Hind Jalpan on Sunday were enough to tell the story. But Siro Kaur’s narration gave a vivid picture of the plight of hundreds of residents who are struggling to get water for daily use.
There are no PHE pipelines in the households in the localities and residents have to depend on public taps. “We have been telling the successive MLAs (the current MLA is Adelbert Nongrum) to give us PHE water connection but nothing has been done in all these years. The MLA comes and gives us rice and dal. I want to tell them that rice is still available but what about water,” said Kaur, who has to fetch water from afar.
Kaur lives in the Cantonment and used to take water from the Nepali compound but “we are not allowed anymore”.
Many families depend on the bore well water that a Good Samaritan distributes everyday for an hour and that too free of cost. “I am not the owner of the shop but only an employee. Now the shop is also closed so these people can take water from the well we have. I am only trying to help them so please do not write my name,” said the Good Samaritan who was waiting at the door as men, women and children collected their day’s water.
The water is distributed from the well through a pipe. When asked how many households collect water from there, the man said he was not sure but “many come”.
“There are around six members in my family. So you can imagine how much water we will need for cleaning, washing and taking bath. We would have died if the bhala aadmi (the good man) did not help us,” said Kaur, who had been waiting in the queue for over an hour. A teenage girl who stays with her relatives in Harijan Colony said she comes every day to fetch water. “I bring two or three jars. The water may not be enough but we are getting something. Our house does not have a pipeline,” she added.
Kaur was frustrated with years of pleading with politicians and requesting Cantonment authorities. “We had told the Cantonment Board in the past but it did not help. After this lockdown, I will definitely tell the MLA to end our plight,” she added.