Ambikapur
The remote Bankheta village of Lakhanpur development block of the district, with a population of only 189, was earlier facing the problem of drinking water. It has become free from this problem due to the schemes run under the leadership of Chief Minister Shri Vishnudev Sai. The people of the village are now very happy that every house in the village has now got a tap. It is noteworthy that under Jal Jeevan Mission, tap water connections have been given to the houses of 36 families of the village. Under Jal Jeevan Mission, a steel structure with a capacity of 10 thousand liters has been constructed in the village, which is providing pure drinking water to all the villagers. On completion of the work, Har Ghar Jal Utsav was also celebrated in the village in the past to celebrate the supply of pure drinking water to the people of village Bankheta. According to the information received by the Public Health Engineering Department, village Bankheta has been declared as “Every Ghar Water Village”.
Change in daily routine, now dependence on hand pump also ended
The villagers told that after the installation of taps in their houses, there has been a change in the daily routine of the villagers. Earlier we had to struggle a lot to get water. Half of the women’s time was spent in arranging water. There was a problem of dirty water coming out of the hand pump in the village during the rainy season. Due to which there was a risk of disease. In such a situation, one could get water only after walking 4 kilometers to another village. There were many problems even in daily tasks. Due to the problem of falling ground water level during summer, adequate amount of water was not available due to the water level in the hand pump going down. But now with the installation of tap connections under Jal Jeevan Mission, all our problems have ended. A group of water vessels formed by 5 women of the village checks the purity of water from time to time. Due to which pure drinking water reaches the villagers.
Villager Jayanti Devi tells that before getting tap connection, we had to depend on hand pumps for drinking water and spent a lot of time waiting for our turn. Due to which they lagged behind in doing their household work and agricultural work and many important works could not be done due to lack of time. He told that under Jal Jeevan Mission, now due to installation of tap tap at home, one does not have to depend on hand pump for filling water, now all the work is done on time. Due to which women have got a lot of relief and are able to devote time to other work also.
Children were not able to give time to fetch water, but now water is easily available.
Villager Teejo Singh- Earlier we had to walk on foot to another village to fill water. Whatever be the season, it was very difficult to go to fetch water while facing rain, cold and heat. We were not able to give time even to children, but now through Jal Jeevan Mission Scheme, we are getting pure drinking water at home, due to which I am very happy.
