Himalaya Harbinger, Rudrapur Bureau.
An investigation into claims that 96% of households in Udham Singh Nagar district are receiving pure drinking water under Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), has revealed alarming gaps in its implementation with many villages facing months-long water shortages and residents relying on dirty hand-pump water.
Ground reports from villages like Kiratpur, Bhagwanpur, and Koladiya have revealed water scarcity in these areas despite installation of water pipelines and tanks. Kiratpur residents said taps were installed 4-5 months ago, but no steady water supply has begun. “Water only flows during testing, and frequent pipeline leaks leave the roads waterlogged,” a local said.
In Bhagwanpur, taps installed three months ago have yet to receive a drop of water. While half of Bagwala village has access to tap water, nearby Koladiya lacks even the infrastructure for it. “Officials are only interested in presenting numbers on paper. They never visit the ground to check the project’s status,” said Radheshyam Shukla, an advocate from Koladiya.
The district JJM office reports that it targets nearly 2 lakh households across 375 gram panchayats in Udham Singh Nagar, covering a population of over 9.5 lakh. Of these, drinking water has been reportedly supplied to about 1.2 lakh households. The district’s total budget is Rs 829 crore, with 44 schemes completed in the first phase. Of the 333 schemes under the second phase, 183 have been completed so far.
Superintending engineer at Rudrapur Jal board, Vinay Jain, said, “96% of the target has been achieved, and the remaining households will receive water by December.”
Despite the mission’s claims of progress, dissatisfaction among locals remains high. “A water tank has been installed in our village, and we are hopeful the taps will work soon,” said Kameshwar Singh Jaitley, a resident of Bhagwanpur.
Meanwhile, a Jal board officer said, “A major obstacle to the project’s completion is resistance from villagers who prefer private tube wells. Some residents refuse tap installations, claiming that their tube wells provide deeper, cleaner water, complicating efforts to meet the mission’s goals.”
