Villagers demand action against negligent officials by conducting a survey in villages including Ambapani, Vangan, Chorwani and Khata Amba

The border village of Vansda is facing an acute shortage of drinking water in summer. People including mango, brinjal, chorvani and sour mango are facing difficulties for water. The government had built check dams on rivers and ravines at a cost of lakhs of rupees under the water conservation scheme. The aim was to recharge the ground water level by stopping the runoff of monsoon and make water available for irrigation throughout the year. It is also mentioned that crores of rupees are allocated for the repair of check dams every year. According to local farmers, many check dams do not store water. The windows of check dams are broken or missing at several places. As a result, the rainwater does not stop and flows straight away. In summer, the check dams appear dry and some do not even have a drop of water. The plan to raise the groundwater level is also claimed to have not been effective. Locals have demanded that higher officials should immediately survey all check dams in the taluka, restore the missing windows, and take action against the officials responsible for negligence in the quality and maintenance of water conservation schemes. If the system does this to store water in the check dam... Regular desilting: Increase the depth of check dams by removing silt and soil before monsoon. Repair of cracks: Plug leakage walls and embankments with waterproof cement. Prevent seepage: Build a diaphragm wall where there is porous soil. Plantation: Plant trees around the check dam to slow down evaporation. Cleaning of canals: Keep the upstream flows clean so that water reaches the check dam. Iron gates: Put a gate in the check dam so that the water can be completely blocked and stored at the end of the monsoon. Jan Bhagidari: Formation of monitoring committee by local villagers and Panchayat. The government's scheme 'Nal Se Jal' has failed 100 per cent in Vansda taluka. In the government's water conservation scheme, check dams are being built on rivers and ravines at a cost of crores, the windows of the check dams are also stolen and despite the fact that crores of rupees are spent on the repair of check dams every year, it is difficult to get irrigation and drinking water. There is a scheme for water but there is no water. >Anantbhai Patel, MLA, Vansda-Chikhli does not store monsoon water due to lack of maintenance. The river gorges receive a lot of water during the monsoon but the check dams do not have windows and the monsoon water is not stored due to lack of maintenance by the department concerned. As a result, the check dams are looking empty throughout the summer, but the check dams are being repaired every year at a cost of crores. >Dharmeshbhai Bhoya, Member, T.P.,