Ajmer: Residents of a village under Pushkar Assembly constituency in Ajmer Lok Sabha seat in Rajasthan boycotted polls on Friday in protest against the government's apathy towards resolving their long-standing problem of drinking water.
Locals of Balwanta village told ETV Bharat that for years they have been raising their voices against the lack of drinking water facilities in the village but the government has not made any efforts to address the problem. Aiming to send a strong message, the villagers decided to boycott polls today. Interestingly, Pushkar MLA Suresh Singh Rawat is the State Water Resources Minister, who, villagers said has turned a deaf ear to their repeated pleas.
The officials of the administration arrived at the village to pacify them and convince them to exercise their franchise but the villagers remained firm on their stand. They clarified that they will not cast their votes until the village is connected to the Bisalpur pipeline.
"We have assembled here and decided to boycott voting today over the lack of drinking water facilities. Many officials visited us today and tried to persuade us to cast our votes. We told them 'you give us water, we will vote'. They came here a few times but we have decided not to vote. We have been made to suffer for years now," Yashraj Gurjar, a villager who was part of the group with whom the officials tried to speak told ETV Bharat.
Balwanta village has a total population of around 3,000 souls. The voting process started at 7 am today but none of the villagers turned up at the polling station. Police and officials of the water supply department are constantly trying to convince the villagers.
Project Manager of Bisalpur Pipeline, Omkar Mundel said that a plan worth Rs 150 crore for 64 villages is ready and the tender will be issued after elections.
Executive Engineer of Water Supply Department Narendra Singh said that water arrangements will be made in the village within two to four days. Besides, water will be supplied to every household in the village through a tank. An approval has already been received and work will be started on priority basis. This apart, a separate proposal for laying water pipeline in the village will be submitted to the state government, he said.
On March 10 this year, villagers had submitted a memorandum to the state water supply minister Kanhaiyalal Choudhary and informed him about their problems. They had also demanded laying a pipeline in Balwanta village. Minister Choudhary had assured the villagers that he would do the needful to address their problem but no concrete step, villagers said, was taken since then.
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