Jaisalmer, November 26, 2024.
In a landscape dominated by sand dunes, Sundra village is situated 170km from Barmer district headquarters on the India-Pakistan border. People living here traditionally depended on ‘beris’ or deep wells for drinking water, but they dried up over the years and three tube wells provide water in Sundra. The water though is excessively saline.
Nenu Devi from the village recollects that when she first arrived at her in-laws’ house from her parental home in Bandhra 45 years ago, she struggled to get drinking water for days. She would lament to her parents about the dreadful conditions here. This Sunday, the 80-year-old witnessed a ‘miracle’: drinking water flowing from a tap in her house.
It was no less miraculous for 60-year-old Roopi Devi, another villager, which has come about through the tireless efforts of engineers, who overcame numerous obstacles to bring water from the Sardar Sarovar Dam on Narmada River, 728km away, to every household in Sundra.
Other villages in Shiv and Ramsar areas are expected to receive tap water soon
The vast expanse of desert, with shifting sand dunes made the terrain treacherous and posed great difficulties to laying pipelines. The absence of electricity delayed progress for months.
Under the Union govt’s Jal Jeevan Mission, the task was revived and given a fresh impetus. Sonaram Beniwal, additional chief engineer of the Narmada Canal-based drinking water project, said the brief was to supply drinking water from Sardar Sarovar Dam in Gujarat to the desert region in Barmer. The ambitious project, costing Rs 513 crore, was meant to bring water to 110 villages in Shiv and 95 villages in Ramsar area of Barmer. It involved construction of 16 main storage sites, pumping stations, and elevated service reservoirs at 86 different locations in Shiv and Ramsar.
Girdhar Singh Sodha, a resident of Sundra, said that for years, people journeyed 15 to 20km to villages like Modrdi, Drabha, Boi, Girab, and Bandhra to bring water for livestock. The groundwater was so hard that even animals refused to drink it. The village head of Sundra said numerous residents had fallen ill due to consumption of mineral-heavy groundwater.
Deformities and premature ageing were common in every household, he said, as the water corroded bones and led to bone degeneration. On Sunday, the planning and execution finally borne fruit as every household in Sundra began receiving clean drinking water. Other villages in Shiv and Ramsar areas are expected to receive tap water soon
