BIJEPUR : AS you enter Bijepur, you are welcomed by vast stretches of barren land, on either side of the newly-metalled roads. The landscape is dotted with thorny plants, hinting at the region’s ‘desertification.’ The arid topography, which often craved for attention, witnessed a rare hustle-bustle on Saturday as the headquarters, along with Gaiselet and parts of Barpali blocks of Bijepur Assembly segment, went to by-poll on Saturday. This drought-prone area was once blessed with abundance of water due to the presence of a traditional water harvesting structure, built by the Kulta Zamindars.
However, the State’s apathy towards the area has led to acute water crisis round the year.
Summer is yet to scorch and people are already finding it difficult to arrange water. The tube wells are either lying defunct or ooze out insufficient water. Then, there are tube wells which pump out fluoride-laced water, unfit for consumption. Water in the traditional structure is ankle-deep, indicating harsher days ahead. Even as the prevailing water scarcity leads to mass migration of villagers, the issue was never raked up in the campaigns for the by-poll.
The poll frenzy did not have much of an impact on the weaver community, who form a sizeable section of the population here. In a weaver’s family, five members are required to weave six yards of threads. After all the hard work, they collectively earn only `10,000 a month. They are unaware about the Government welfare schemes and are often exploited by middlemen, who provide them the yarn and the dye and buy the finished product at throwaway price. Although, as many as seven Union ministers and almost the entire State Cabinet campaigned for Bijepur by-poll, the crucial issues were pushed to back-burner.