No water, no vote: Protesters rebuke MLA as ₹68-cr canal project grinds to a halt

Hisar: Public tension flared in Chanot village of Hansi district after protesting residents confronted BJP MLA Vinod Bhayana, reading out a list of his "12 unfulfilled promises" over a microphone while he sat silently on stage. The dramatic public rebuke, captured in a video that has gone viral on social media, occurred on the tenth day of an ongoing village agitation against severe delays plaguing a Rs 68-crore Bhakra canal water project.The protesters delivered an ultimatum to the legislator, declaring a "No Water, No Vote" stance for upcoming elections. The conflict centres on the multi-crore pipeline project, which villagers have forced to a complete standstill. Residents demand a permanent legal amendment to the engineering plan: a direct pipeline connection into the village waterworks to solve Chanot's drinking water crisis.The Rs 68-crore project has already faced a string of administrative and natural hurdles. Construction was initially frozen due to a delayed no-objection certificate (NOC) from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). Last year, intense rainfall and subsequent heavy waterlogging along the Hansi-Barwala Road further washed out the engineering timeline, which is now entirely choked by the public dharna.During the stage confrontation, a local resident accused the MLA of failing to deliver on developmental commitments made over the past two years. The protesters alleged that despite multiple official assurances, Chanot has received zero development funds from the MLA quota. The long list of pending works includes promised funds for village road construction, cremation ground upgrades, drainage networks, crop compensation for waterlogged fields, and the installation of a heavy-duty 50 HP motor pump.Furthermore, the agitators pointed out that despite formal proposals submitted for an independent water pipeline and promises made under the Centre's Har Ghar Jal scheme, several local villages and scattered hamlets (dhanis) still lack functional household tap water connections.MLA Vinod Bhayana responded briefly before leaving the site. He claimed that the specific engineering approvals for the canal pipeline do not fall directly within his legislative jurisdiction, but assured the angry gathering that he would raise their infrastructural grievances with the state govt.MSID:: 131330766 413 |