Residents of Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh have been hit hard by water scarcity.
Scorching summer has made water into a precious commodity, as most borewells have dried up in the Vidisha Assembly constituency of Madhya Pradesh. As a tanker brings 1000 litres of water into the town, residents waiting for hours, rush to fill their buckets and containers.
Non-functional overhead water tankers, which were constructed many years ago, are making matters worse for the residents here.
Asha, a local, told NDTV, "The overhead tank nearby was constructed six-seven years ago, but it's not functional yet. We have to wait in the sun for the water tanker to arrive; children fall sick but what can we do, water is a necessity."
Over 85 areas are suffering from water shortage in the town, and the local municipal corporation is supplying water to them every alternate day. The situation is worse in rural areas, where officials admit that 50 of the 92 gram panchayats are facing water shortage.
Lakhan Singh Mehna, village head of Goriya Kheda says, "Water shortage is our biggest problem. All the bore wells in the village have dried up. We have repeatedly complained to officials, they just give us assurance and we have to walk at least 1 km away to get water."
But the local government officials claim that the water shortage here is only a small problem.
RP Ahirwar, Sub Divisional Magistrate of Vidisha says, "During summer there is a little problem of water shortage. Things are not as bad as you are saying. We are providing water tankers wherever required. In rural parts, before the summer we do assessment. If people have to walk for 1.5 kilometres for water, then the village head can approach officials and we take action."
Vidisha, is an important district of Madhya Pradesh. It had been one of the constituencies from where Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had been elected in 2013. He had vacated the seat in 2014, following which Kalyan Singh Thakur has represented it in the Assembly. The constituency is party of the Vidisha Lok Sabha seat, which is represented by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.