A
Peri-urban area, after an interval of time, becomes urban and comes under the
process of urban gigantism. It is an area which witnesses constant change; and
due to the problem of this urban gigantism the resources in those areas are
depleted. Water, as a natural resource also comes under the threat of being
depleted. Hence, making sure and doing our best to secure water in Peri-urban
areas is a thing of priority. Budheda and Sadhraana are two villages located in
the Peri-urban areas of Gurgaon city. These two villages face the problem of
water. Pure, safe drinking water is a problem here.
Budheda faces the problem
of saline water. Water extracted from the ground there is saline. We interacted
with people belonging to many communities spreading across Rajputs, Brahmins,
Yadavs, Lohaars, Naais etc. In Budheda the majority of population belong to the
Harijan community. The PHED water is first stored in two tanks named “Double
tunkey”, and then it is supplied to the whole village through the pipelines.
There are 990 households and we surveyed 101 households. We were
welcomed in some households but we were also not allowed to survey in some households.
What we learnt in Budheda regarding water problem
is that the water is saline in most part of the village and the PHED water supply
doesn’t meet the day-to-day requirements of the people. Rich households use
electric motor to draw water, and hence it becomes more difficult for the
poorer section of the people to fetch water. Same is the case with Sadhraana.
In Sadhraana we surveyed 50 households, again spreading across all the
communities including Rajputs, Brahmins, Yadavs, Lohaars, Naais etc. Sadhraana
is called “Pandito ka gaon”, which means village of the pundits (Brahmins), but
the majority of people belong to Harijan community. Sadhraana too faces the
problem of water. The water supplied by the PHED in Sadhraana is sweet, but the
borings in the fields and the other part of the village releases saline water,
which also affects the agricultural productivity.
Budheda and Sadhraana, both face the water problems but it cannot be denied
that water which reaches the households is also wasted to a great extend. Hence
people should be aware and should not waste water. A meeting with the PHED
officials and the Panchayat members of Sultanpur and Jhanjhrola Khera was
organized, in which it was decided that people found wasting water will be
fined. Hence, in this way atleast wastage of water could be controlled.
Tanmoy Das
IIT
Guwahati
Student Intern
(Gurgaon), SaciWATERs
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