Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
A protest titled ‘Labadanno Pani Dya’ (Cheaters, Give Us Water) has been launched by the Uddhav Sena to address the ongoing water crisis in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. As part of this movement, the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, Ambadas Danve, interacted with senior citizens at Siddharth Udyan early Saturday morning (around 6.30–7.00 am).
During the interaction, when Danve spoke about efforts to improve the water situation, senior citizens sarcastically remarked, “Let’s see if we get a daily water supply before we’re gone,” to which Danve assured of doing so soon.
The work on the new water supply scheme for the city is currently underway. However, due to technical errors by the contractors and officials from the Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran (MJP), it is uncertain when the project will be completed. While ruling party leaders are claiming that the water supply scheme will be completed urgently, the Uddhav Sena has launched the above protest in response to the delay and ongoing water crisis.
Background
Though ruling party leaders claim the scheme will be completed soon, Uddhav Sena has now started a month-long protest to highlight the issue. On Saturday morning, Danve, along with party workers, distributed pamphlets at Siddharth Garden and spoke with morning walkers and yoga practitioners. He said the new water supply scheme has stalled due to the state government’s failure to allocate direct funds. Instead, the government has only provided a guarantee, forcing the municipal corporation to take a loan from the bank, which would be difficult for the corporation to repay.
Water Needs and Reality:
Required water for the city: 240 MLD
Currently available: 140 MLD
If we consider this gap, citizens should have received water on every alternate day, but poor planning has resulted in water being supplied only once in 10–12 days in many areas.
Referring to this real situation, the senior citizens passed a taunt claiming to provide adequate water at least till they are alive.