By Biplab Kumar Dey
Williamnagar, Aug 16: Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) has been expected to be a game changer for the entire country with Meghalaya being no exception. However, in some cases, like it has been with the village of Awanga, the story has been a life changer but for the wrong reason.
Awanga is a village just about 2 kms away from the main town of Rongjeng. The village lies on the Mangsang – Adokgre route. It consists of at least 69 households with an approximate population of 420 people.
The village, as per locals, had a sufficient water supply that though may not have catered to all households, still provided potable drinking water to almost the entire area, most importantly to the UP/LP school of the village, the Church as well as the community hall.
However, ever since JJM has been implemented, the old tank that supplied water to the village, has not only been dismantled but all avenues of potable water now completely in shambles. The village now has literally no water supply as the JJM scheme is not operational and the old tank and all of its old pipes fitted by the contractor into the new project.
A visit to the village showed that the new local tank meant to supply water to all 69 households has been moved further uphill, at least by 150 metres. The walk to the tank itself – a complete uphill climb – took close to half an hour to get to.
“We are currently at our wits end as the water supply to our village has stopped due to the JJM project still not being properly functional. Currently none of the households have got even a drop of water from the project and everyone is suffering.