Sluggish project work peeves Tingri residents
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, November 29 2023:
Residents of Tingri, a tiny hamlet located at the outskirt of Lamsang assembly constituency in Imphal West district, are expressing concern over delay in completion of the water supply project, construction of which started about three years back.
The village is located at a distance of around 16 km from Imphal city towards the east of Awang Wabagai village.
It is surrounded by paddy fields on all sides.
Without any access to tap water, most of the villagers rely on private water tankers for household usage.
Sometimes, the water sold by private water tankers are found containing small snails.
According to a villager, local MLA S Rajen laid foundation stone for construction of the water supply project under Jal Jeevan Mission on December 18, 2020 with state's PHED as the implementing agency.
A land area measuring around 1.25 acres for the water supply project was donated by the locals from the village land with the hope that early completion of the project would provide them safe drinking water.
However, the construction work stopped midway.
The water storage pond, water treatment plant and other structures have been left incomplete.
With a target population of 950, the small reservoir (pond) will not be enough to feed the water supply project and they had urged the authority to lay pipeline for sourcing water from Sekmai Dam to ensure regular water supply, the villager said.
The nearest healthcare facility is Awang Wabagai Health and Wellness Centre, which provides primary healthcare services.
For secondary healthcare services, the villagers have to go to Awang Sekmai CHC, located around 4 km from the village and it runs 24/7.Though the distance is short, the inconvenience they face is the bad road condition, which affects their normal life and access to healthcare and education among other basic amenities.
Most of the villagers are farmers and they are enjoying proper irrigation from Sekmai Dam but not during the winter season.
As a result, the villagers are not able to cultivate winter crops and vegetables in their farms.
The most basic need, which the village lacks is water for daily use, especially during the lean seasons, the villager said while drawing attention of the government for taking up necessary remedial measures.
There is a government primary school in the village, which was established in 1958 but it has no teacher or student.
The local playground is also often inun dated, which the villagers are hoping for some government support to raise the ground level.
There are three national players in the village and villagers want the government to improve sports infrastructure to bring out more promising players.