Tura, April 28: Most localities here are facing acute shortage of water. The blistering April heat coupled with 10 hours of electricity shutdown is making life miserable for most residents in the town.
In the last few days, Tura has seen temperature going up by 39 degree Celsius, which is dubbed as highest in the last three decades. In Tura, the temperature hovers around 25-29 degree Celsius in summer.
Yesterday’s rain was expected to bring some relief, but it hit hard with power cut due to technical snag at Nongalbibra transmission in South Garo Hills. The effect was entire Garo Hills had to reel the brunt of power cut for about 15 hours.
From March till the onset of monsoon, a majority of the localities in Tura town faces regular water problem. West Garo Hills deputy commissioner, Pravin Bakshi said, “We have called for an urgent water crisis meeting and are working out a modality with the public health engineering department”.
As per the figures of the PHE department, Tura town needs 3.1 million gallons of water a day. Officials in PHE department say that there is a shortfall of about 6 lakh gallons per day.
In Tura, distribution of water is done both by PHE and Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC). Executive Engineer of PHE, Saljrang Sangma said, “This is the lean season and as such there is a problem of water shortage. While we have been trying to draw water all through the day, we have not been able to do so during the evening hours due to low voltage”.
He even stated that Meghalaya Electricity Corporation Limited (MeECL) has failed to adhere to its promise of providing 24 hour electricity line to the department. “In 1998, we had taken up the matter with MeECL for a dedicated electricity connection, which is yet to be materialised”.
The problem for water woes is not being taken up seriously by the GHADC, who refuses to even participate in water crisis meeting being convened by the district administration.
“There is a huge depletion in the catchment areas leading to the drying of streams. Something concrete needs to be done for a permanent solution to the problem. The GHADC should make all efforts to protect these areas or the water crisis is set to get worse in the coming years”, said Sangma.
Tura Municipal Board has come up to help people by supplying water in different localities an exorbitant rate of Rs. 1500 for 6000 liters. The private suppliers are charging Rs. 200 to Rs. 500 per 1000 liters but the transport cost ranges from Rs. 1000 – 2000 per local trip. Nearby water sources like Ganol and Eden Bari is flooded with people. Most of them are using the water sources for bathing and washing clothes. Ganol river is the main source of water for Tura town, located about 5 km from here.(SP News)
