Adgaon Raja villagers stage sit-in over power link; promised water supply in 8 days in writing

Water scarcity has become serious in Adgaon Raja in Buldhana, the birthplace of Raje Lakhujirao Jadhav. A pipeline has been laid from the dam at Pimparkhed Budruk to the village well, yet supply has not begun only because there is no electricity connection. With the administration repeating the same assurance for a year, angry villagers staged a sit-in at the Panchayat Samiti office on Wednesday. The agitation was called off after they received a written assurance that supply would start within 8 days.

Last year, villagers raised the issue of the village's water at a general meeting held over the shortage. The administration had then also promised to start supply within 8 days, but a year has passed and the promise was not kept. Meanwhile, the pipeline work from the dam to the well was completed, but the work on the electricity connection remained stuck and the entire scheme lies idle. Despite water being arranged, villagers have to wander in search of it.

To draw attention to the administration's delay, villagers had submitted a memorandum on October 30. It warned that if supply did not start by Monday, an agitation would be held in front of the Panchayat Samiti office. The matter was still not resolved, so the villagers went to the Panchayat Samiti and demanded answers from officials. There, the Block Development Officer and the Deputy Engineer of the water supply department gave a written assurance to start supply within 8 days, after which the agitation ended.

Those present at the agitation included youth leader Pradip Bilhore, Ramdas Kahale, Prakash Sonune, Atishraje Jadhav, Rustumrao Zore, Shyam Kale, Gaibi Rathod, Sanjay Shewale and Sanjay Kahale, among many others.

Resentment has grown among villagers searching for water for daily needs, because the scheme remains shut for want of an electricity connection even after the pipeline work was completed. If supply does not start within the eight-day deadline given by the administration, the villagers may launch the agitation again.