Chhattisgarh: Pakhnachua villagers forced to consume contaminated water amid scarcity

The villagers of Pakhnachua in Chhattisgarh are dealing with a severe water crisis. The shortage of water has compelled the people of the village to drink contaminated water from the underground water source. Pakhnachua was recently made a gram panchayat and was separated from Badegudara Gram Panchayat, which is about 50 kilometres from Dantewada district headquarters.

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"Nobody has come here to check on us..."

The new panchayat title has not brought any relief to the people of Pakhnachua as they have to struggle for clean drinking water. Pakhnachua villagers are dependent on two underground water sources. The villagers disclosed that they have been drinking the underground water for the past many years and no authorities have come to check on them.

"We have two underground water sources here. We come here in the morning and evening to collect water. We have been drinking this water for many years. Nobody has come here to check on us," said a villager.

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The village accommodates over 800 people and the establishment of the new panchayat in its vicinity has forced the villagers to demand a resolution to the drinking water issue, a local from the village informed.

Joga Ram, another villager said, "We do not have any drinking water facility here. We have been drinking underground water only. Even animals drink from these water sources. Over 50-60 families consume this water."

Candidates come here to get votes once elected nobody returns to the village to check the condition, he added.

Collector, Deepak Soni immediately called the Public Health Engineering Department (PHE) officials and asked for details over water scarcity in the village when informed about the same. Soni further called the village sarpanch to take cognizance of the matter.

"We will soon resolve the villagers' problem. We face problems taking drilling machines in the area but drilling work is under process in the village for the borewell," said Soni.

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(With inputs from ANI)