SHILLONG, July 8: Chief Minister Conrad Sangma’s push for ‘Jal Jeevan 2.0′ has hit a wall of public anger, as dry taps and ’empty’ infrastructure across Meghalaya expose a widening gap between the government’s paper achievements and the thirsty reality on the ground.
Residents from the Phulbari area, including Shyamnagar, Masangpai, and Bangranggre, report that while pipes have been laid under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), water has yet to flow. These complaints highlight a pattern of “decorative” infrastructure where tanks and pipelines are installed but remain disconnected from a reliable water source.
Responding to the growing friction, the Chief Minister directed the Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department and the state JJM team to move beyond completion statistics. He has ordered a detailed report to verify how many household connections are actually delivering water, identifying specific blocks and districts where implementation has failed.
The review also covered the state’s transition toward “Jal Jeevan 2.0” and the rising costs of “retrofitting”—the process of fixing or upgrading existing systems that are currently non-functional.
Public feedback following the review suggests the crisis extends to the capital’s fringes.Residents on the outskirts of Shillong cited a total lack of water treatment facilities and a supply schedule limited to just twice a week.
Adding to the mission’s hurdles, local contractors have appealed for the immediate clearance of pending bills. They claim that significant delays in government payments have left them in debt, further stalling progress on the ground.
While the government prepares for the next phase of the mission, the focus has now shifted to whether the PHE department can turn “functional” statistics into actual water supply for struggling households.
