JNNURM women hold protest for drinking water

Vijayawada: Hundreds of women from the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) housing colony at Jakkampudi held a protest holding empty plastic and steel pots for drinking water.

They raised slogans against the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation and the State government for not supplying drinking water on regular basis. Though the colony was constructed a year ago with funds from the Central government under the JNNURM scheme, the civic administration has failed to provide basic amenities till date.

They blamed the civic officials for not providing drinking water despite repeated pleas by the occupants of the colony. They alleged that the civic officials have miserably failed to provide basic amenities to the colony though they have been collecting drainage charges and property taxes religiously. Extending support to the agitating women, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) city secretary, Ch Baburao, came down heavily on the civic administration for not attending to the problems of the people in the colony.

He said that the colony was established under the JNNURM scheme with several reforms to its credit, including imposition of new taxes and withdrawal of various basic services. He said that the JNNURM had directed the civic body to increase taxes and impose new taxes on people and slowly withdraw from services like drinking water, street lighting and health.

He wondered how the officials have allotted houses to the beneficiaries in the colony without having provision for adequate drinking water facility. Stating that the officials have been supplying water to the colony through a tanker, he regretted that one tanker was not able to give meet the drinking water needs of each family. He demanded the civic officials to increase the number of trips of the water tanker to the colony and ensure that water problem is solved.

He questioned the civic officials for not laying drinking water pipelines on the pretext of objections from Railways. He said that the officials were shifting the blame on the railway officials for not allowing them to lay the pipeline through the railway track.The Telugu Desam, the YSR Congress and the Communist Party of India have also extended support to the agitating women and demanded that the corporation provide drinking water for the residents of the JNNURM's Jakkampudi colony.