Jal Jeevan Mission fails in Biswanath’s Dirang village, muddy water, dry taps
Over 190 households face drinking water crisis with muddy or no water supply, despite installed taps.
Muddy water used by the villagers for drinking and regular use
Biswanath, May 24: The Jal Jeevan Mission, a flagship scheme under the Prime Minister’s 'Har Ghar Jal' initiative, has turned into a source of frustration and despair for the residents of Dirang, a village near the Assam-Arunachal border in Biswanath district.
Locals have sarcastically renamed the project as 'Har Ghar Nal, Har Ghar Mal', referring to the muddy, unusable water supplied through the installed taps. The situation has reached such a dire state that villagers claim the water is not even fit for washing hands, let alone for drinking.
“We haven’t received clean water since the taps were installed. The officials told us we must pay money before they’ll connect the taps. Out of 190 homes, at least five have no taps or water at all. We’re forced to drink river water. The hand pumps here have high iron content—it’s just not safe,” said a local resident.
“There are taps, yes, but no water. And when they do supply, it’s around 7 PM. But we need water in the morning—for cooking, cleaning, and our children who go to school. What good is water at night?” another villager lamented.
The villagers added that their repeated pleas to the concerned departments have yielded no lasting results.
“We submitted written complaints. They supplied clean water for just two days. Now we’re back to murky, brown water—if any at all. One side of the village gets some water, the other side gets none. The authorities just pass the responsibility from one official to another. No one is held accountable,” a local resident explained.
In some houses, not only is there no water, but taps have not even been installed despite the project being declared complete. The villagers say the Jal Jeevan Mission in their area has completely failed, leaving nearly two hundred families in distress.
With their voices ignored, residents have made an urgent appeal to the government for access to clean and safe drinking water, highlighting a growing gap between policy promises and on-ground implementation.
The situation in Dirang reflects broader challenges in infrastructure delivery and the need for greater transparency and accountability in public welfare schemes. As India strives toward universal access to clean drinking water, villages like Dirang remain stark reminders of the work still left to be done.