WATER HUNT: Women at a slum near R-Block roundabout fetch water from a leaking roadside supply pipe in Patna, making a mockery of chief minister Nitish Kumar's Har Ghar Nal Ka Jal slogan under his seven resolves.

Nearly 500 people, mostly daily wagers, reside in the slum behind the telephone office and face acute water shortage. With no access to potable water, the people claim the women have to go looking for leaking water supply pipes to fetch water. They first put a cloth around the leakage to filter the water and then fill up their pots.

"During elections, the leaders make tall claims but after that they forget," said Munni Sahni, a resident. The slum falls under ward number 9 and Abhishek Kumar is the ward councillor.

"If they ask, we can provide them water through tankers free of cost," deputy municipal commissioner Vishal Anand said. He said the area the slum-dwellers live in is a notified railway line where it is not possible to lay water pipes.

Text by SM Shahbaz, picture by Manoj Kumar