Aane villagers without tap water for six weeks, gram panchayat warns of road blockade on October 29

Residents of Aane village are facing a severe drinking water shortage. Rain has failed this year and the effect of the drought is growing. The Belhe regional water supply scheme, which supplies the village, has been completely shut since September 9. The gram panchayat has said clearly that if the supply is not restored soon, it will hold a rasta roko (road blockade) protest on October 29.

The water level in the well that serves Aane's residential area keeps falling because of scanty rain. The village has no other reliable source of drinking water, so it depends entirely on the Belhe regional scheme. But the scheme has now been shut for more than a month and a half, and people have to roam about in search of water.

The situation has worsened because Belhe regional water supply scheme No. 2 has yet to be commissioned. The gram panchayat complains that the contractor and officials concerned were informed repeatedly, yet the water supply has not resumed as before.

The village's water sources were already under pressure because of the lack of rain. With the regional scheme that provided daily water now shut, women, the elderly and other villagers are struggling hard to fetch water. Villagers are angry and say, "Give us water, or we will take to the streets."

The gram panchayat has asked the Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran to take immediate note of the issue and restore the water supply. A memorandum has also been sent to the officials concerned, including the District Collector, the sub-divisional officer, the tehsildar, sitting MLA Sharad Sonawane and the block development officer.

Villagers of Anepathar have warned the administration to take immediate steps before the drinking water problem becomes more serious in the drought conditions. If that does not happen, the rasta roko protest will be held on October 29.