RANCHI: Residents of Kali Pahari, a tribal hamlet in Koderma, have access to neither drinking water nor any provisions for electricity or roads. Photographs of residents sharing a water pit with wild animals triggered widespread outrage after going viral on social media.
Taking cognisance of the matter, Chief Minister Hemant Soren directed the Koderma Deputy Commissioner to take immediate action, following which the administration installed a tube well in the village within hours.
Notably, for several years now, more than 100 people belonging to nearly 10 families residing in the Kali Pahari and Chataniya Dah areas of Dagarnawa Panchayat, under Markaccho block, remained deprived of even basic amenities, including access to potable water.
Villagers were forced to dig ‘chuan’ (shallow pits) to quench their thirst. Water from these pits are visibly contaminated. Despite the evident contamination, villagers have no alternative source and are forced to depend on it for survival.
Women of the village prioritise the search for water above all else. Carrying pots on their heads, women walk nearly a kilometer along a rugged hilly path from their homes to reach the ‘Soti Nala’, the village’s only water source. Upon arrival, they first wash their utensils with the muddy stream water before digging small pits nearby to collect water. After filling their vessels, they undertake the difficult trek back through the forested terrain, carrying the water home for drinking, cooking and other household needs.
According to villagers, water crisis worsens drastically during summer, with women spending most of the day arranging water for their families. The situation turns even worse during the monsoon, when rising water levels leave no dry space to dig shallow pits. As a result, villagers are compelled to filter and consume muddy water collected from random pits and drains.
The same shallow pits from which women in Kali Pahari collect water for household use are also used by wild animals from the nearby forest.
In a video that went viral on social media, a pig could be seen drinking from the very spot where women were drawing water.
After the video went viral on social media, the Chief Minister took cognizance of the matter, directing Koderma DC to look into the matter and revert.
“This situation is not acceptable. Investigate the matter and, while promptly providing assistance to the affected people of Dagar Gaon Panchayat, report back,” posted CM Soren on X.
Within hours Koderma DC replied that the tube-well installation work at Kali Pahari, under the Dagarnawa Panchayat, has been completed.
“Respected Sir, as per the instructions, the matter has been duly noted and necessary action has been taken. The work on the tubewell in the tribal hamlet (Kali Pahari) under Dagranwan Panchayat has been completed, and the availability of clean drinking water for the villagers has been ensured,” replied Koderma DC.
