Tribal village apathetic towards rural polls due to lack of dev work

Following the lack of development in the locality, the villagers of a tribal village in South Dinajpur district are indifferent to exercising their democratic right in the upcoming rural poll on July 8.

Chakbalaram village in the Tapan Block is about 11 km from Balurghat. Most of the villagers are largely dependent on agricultural work.

The villagers have been suffering from an acute drinking water crisis for years. A local homemaker Riti Kisku said: “We are suffering from an acute drinking water crisis. Local leaders of the region are indifferent to solving our problem. In the upcoming rural poll, the leaders from all major political parties including Trinamool Congress, BJP, Left Front and Congress are now involved in the campaign. They say that the water crisis will be resolved after the vote. In reality, we know that our plight will never change. The assurance that the candidates are giving us will once again prove to be an empty one.”

As many as 2,000 people reside in the village. Among them, there are about 1450 voters. A few years ago; some hand pumps were set up in the village. At present most of them have been non-functional following the lack of proper maintenance. A reservoir is, however, functional but due to irregularity of power, the supply of drinking water is being drastically affected regularly.

Despite the water problem, the condition of the only road is deplorable.

Local BJP leader Apurba Sarkar alleged that the entire Tapan Block is suffering from drinking water problems.

Rubbishing the charges, outgoing TMC GP Pradhan Rajen Murmu Rajen Murmu said: “After coming to power in 2013, numerous development works for Chakbalaram village have taken place. Hand pumps were set up to supply drinking water for the villagers. The work for home-service drinking water connectivity through the pipeline for the locals is going on. The road was also repaired a few days ago.”