BJP warns legal action over Tura water crisis

SHILLONG/TURA, March 25: Bringing to the fore once again the shoddy implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), the state BJP has threatened to resort to legal action if water crisis, which is bedeviling Tura, is not resolved within a week.
The Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) and the Tura Water Supply Scheme (TWSS) were meant to be game-changers in Tura, a town which is faced with drought-like situations every year between the months of February and April.
People in many parts of Tura were also seen queuing to collect water from tankers supplied by the PHE department.
Alleging that water scarcity in Tura has been chaotic, BJP vice president, Bernard Marak, said that proper implementation of the schemes would have improved the situation which has now aggravated.
“Contractors who implemented Tura Water Supply Scheme amounting to around 35 crore and Jal Jeevan Mission have duped the public and the government with non-functional water connections. Now in Tura, water scarcity is at its peak,” he said.
Marak alleged that most of the works were not fully done and completion reports were submitted without verifying.
He said the contractors hardly utilise 25 per cent of the actual cost and get away with substandard work, leaving the public in a difficult situation.
He also argued that failing to provide a basic amenity, despite Centre sanctioning money to provide water to every household, is no less than a crime and will be taken up at the highest level.
“This will not be tolerated. If the authorities do not solve the water crisis in Tura within a week, FIR and cases against contractors as well as the officials involved will be filed lawfully,” the BJP leader said.