‘People use septic tanks for storing water in parched Bundelkhand’

The septic tanks and large pits constructed for toilets under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan have turned into drinking water storage tanks in Bundelkhand, said Rajendra Singh, water man, who came to Bhopal to release a study on drought of Bundelkhand.

According to the study conducted by a Bundelkhand water forum which is a group of civil society members acute drought condition triggered migration up to 65% in Bundelkhand region of MP and those who didn’t move were now forced to store water in septic tank.

Rajendra Singh said the condition was deteriorating by the day in Bundelkhand and state government was not doing anything.

“Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan assured people of digging hundred of years old ponds in Khajuraho but despite sending letters at least thrice and even making calls to the CM by me, we didn’t receive any response,” said Singh.

“In Palera block of Tikamgarh district, the villagers are pooling money and purchasing water through tankers. As they don’t have a proper storage system they are using septic tanks of newly constructed toilets under Swaccha Bharat campaign as water tanks,” said Manvendra Singh, a resident of Tikamgarh, who accompanied Rajendra Singh.

However, some farmers also alleged that they were being cheated by Babas in the name of doing pooja to get rid of drought.

Sharing the experience on the release of the study, a farmer from village Bamnora of Chhatarpur district, Malkhan Singh said, “Some babas are coming every year to take bags of grains and also money from villagers in the name of performing havans in Ayodhya. They scare us by saying that the drought is a result of our sin. We raised the voice many times but nobody paid any attention to take action against these frauds.”

Drought has affected not only people but also livestock. Many people have abandoned their livestock due to unavailability of drinking water and food, said the study.

Singh said, “The situation is not as bad in Uttar Pradesh as in Madhya Pradesh. Reason being two years ago as many as 100 ponds were successfully dug out by the state government but MP government is not bothered about the people of Bundelkhand.”

Water resources and public relations minister Narottam Mishra said he hadn’t seen the study. He would comment only after going through the study.