Shirpur Jain residents seek tap water twice a week, warn of agitation from March 2027
The village's dispute-free committee chief has urged the gram panchayat to plan for drought-like conditions and supply water from the Adol project twice weekly.
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Concern over water is growing in Shirpur Jain village. The water the village gets from the Adol project now arrives at fairly long intervals. Against this backdrop, Engineer Nandkishore Ulhamale, president of the village's Tantamukti Samiti, on Sunday submitted a memorandum to the administrator and the village development officer of the local gram panchayat.
The memorandum says drought-like conditions could develop ahead. It therefore asks that tap water be released in Shirpur at least twice a week and that planning be done accordingly.
The memorandum also lists the prevailing conditions. Rainfall was lower this year, so the village's wells and borewells are likely to dry up early. On the other hand, the Adol project at Borala is about 50 per cent full. Even so, last year's experience was that Shirpur did not get water properly from the tap scheme.
The demand is therefore that whatever arrangements are needed to ensure smooth water supply to the village this year be made now, so that no difficulty arises later. The memorandum has been given to the Shirpur gram panchayat, and villagers are now watching what step it takes.
To avoid a water shortage ahead, the memorandum suggests some concrete measures. A higher horsepower motor should be installed, illegal connections on the main pipe of the tap scheme should be shut, and leakages should be traced and plugged. A spare higher horsepower motor should also be procured in advance. This would allow the village to be given water twice a week without additional trouble.
The memorandum also carries a warning. If the gram panchayat is unable to supply water to the village twice a week from March 2027, an agitation will have to be launched out of compulsion, and the gram panchayat will bear full responsibility for it.
Villagers also say the gram panchayat should immediately make firm plans on the water issue. The Adol project has water stock available. If the obstacles in the water distribution arrangements are removed, Shirpur can get regular water. Villagers are therefore demanding that work on increasing the motor's capacity, repairing pipeline leakages and shutting illegal connections begin at the earliest.
