Inaccessible hill, steep climb and need of every drop of water… the story of water crisis in MP

During the scorching heat, a new problem has arisen in Madhya Pradesh due to water crisis. In many places, the situation is such that people are yearning for every drop of water. At the same time, all the claims of the state government are failing. From Bundelkhand to Malwa Nimar, the problem of water crisis is troubling people. People are walking several kilometers to fetch water from the forests. Even in the modern era, such a terrible situation has arisen due to water crisis in a part of the country.
‘Water is life’, ‘Jal-Jeevan Mission’, ‘Tap in every home, water in every home’, the government has been running all these schemes for a long time. But these pictures of Madhya Pradesh are telling something else. More than 100 tribal families of Pathapur village, a tribal area of Kishangarh, about 70 kilometers from the district headquarters in Chhatarpur, Madhya Pradesh, are facing a severe water crisis these days. The people here are forced to go down the hill in the inaccessible forests of Panna Tiger Reserve and bring water from natural sources.
Bringing water from Tiger Reserve
Risking their lives, villagers are bringing water seeping from the hills to their homes amidst dangerous rocky paths and inaccessible hills. For the people of Pathapur village, collecting water is like winning a war. Villagers travel 2 to 3 km from the village to reach the forest to get water and climb down the dangerous hill to fill water in pots and take them up with the help of a rope. Some people reach the village through rocky paths and staircases. People struggling to get water are not only at risk of falling from the hill, but also due to the presence of Panna Tiger Reserve, escaping from wild animals is no less than a challenge.

Water coming from inside the cave
The condition of the world famous tourist place Mandu is also similar, where the people living there have to bring the muddy water dripping drop by drop from inside the cave in a deep ditch from several kilometers away. About 1000 people live in the Jhabari area of Mandu city. These people also have to risk their lives for water and even after that they get only the muddy water leaking from the cave. At the same time, the fear of wild animals and the dangerous ups and downs of the forest can also become a big problem for the people. To reach a place called Tibkiya in the cave hundreds of feet below, the villagers have to descend hundreds of feet down through a narrow rocky path. The saddest thing is that this water is not drinkable. The villagers say that this situation remains in this area for 6 months of the year.
The situation is worse in Bhopal too
In the capital Bhopal too, the big pond which is called the life line of the city is drying up after 5 years. The water level has dropped from 1661 feet to 1659 feet in just one month. If the sun continues to shine like this, then the water level is likely to go down even more. In Khandwa of Madhya Pradesh, people even blocked the roads due to lack of water. People said that despite having such a big dam here, water is not available. We have been facing this water problem for many years.
Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar also accused the government on the water crisis and said that the officials have only done corruption in these schemes. Taps have been installed but there is no water in them. At the same time, the Chief Minister also seems serious about the water problem. He is working on rivers and ponds. There are more than 212 rivers in the state. There are many stepwells and many ponds. The encroachment on water structures will also be removed. A campaign will also be run from June 5 to June 15. Overall, the coming 15-20 days are very difficult for Madhya Pradesh. There is a need for the government to make proper arrangements for water for these villagers.