Chhatarpur/Chitrakoot, March 13: Bundelkhand and water scarcity have become synonymous and the problem peaks with the onset of the summer season. However, for the first time, people from different walks of life, religion and politics are uniting to resolve the crisis with the first step being the conservation campaign for the Mandakini river in Chitrakoot.
Bundelkhand once used to be a wet area, but with the passage of time, it is now identified with drought, poverty and migration, thanks to the poor management of water resources in the area and the apathy of the government and society.
Many schemes were introduced to resolve the water crisis, crores of rupees were allocated for it in the budgets but the ground situation continues to be the same. That’s the reason the same pitiful sights are witnessed every year, though much effort has been made to paint a rosy picture on paper.
Bundelkhand comprises seven districts — Jhansi, Jalaun, Lalitpur, Mahoba, Hamirpur, Banda and Chitrakoot — of Uttar Pradesh and six districts (Datia, Tikamgarh, Chhatarpur, Panna, Damoh and Sagar) of Madhya Pradesh.
The region has a lot of water structures but all have dried up due to poor management, closing all routes for the availability of water for the common man.
A campaign to change the face of the region through the funds given by the government and donations by various people continues but has not been able to change the situation.
Mandakini is the river alongside which Lord Rama spent a long time during his exile.
For the conservation of the Mandakini river, a campaign will be run from March 22-30 in which the actual condition of the river will be assessed and encroachments and places where filth is accumulating will also be marked.
A research student associated with the campaign, Rambabu Tiwari, claimed that the mafias active in the region have looted the money allocated for various schemes to solve the water problem in the area. Everybody eyes the government’s projects only. Now, without any government funds, efforts are being made to conserve water.
It will be a public campaign but till the time water warriors are not born in every house, it will be difficult to solve the water problem in the region, Tiwari added.
If experts are to be believed, every village in Bundelkhand used to have a water structure, the people did not know what is a water crisis, but now it has become the identity of the area.
The Union government has approved the Ken Betwa Link Project and allocated funds for it in the budget. Khajuraho MP and BJP’s Madhya Pradesh unit president Vishnu Dutt Sharma claimed the project will solve the water crisis, bring happiness and change the face of the region. (IANS)