Water, water, every where/ Nor any drop to drink... 

A peek into the files of Karbi Anglong Rural Development Agency will give you the impression that Diphu Assembly constituency in the hill district of Karbi Anglong has overcome its decades-old water crisis, thanks to the commissioning of almost 500 water-harvesting projects in the past 10 years.

More than Rs 4 crore from the local MLA’s development fund, Rs 16 crore released under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Generation Scheme and Rs 4 crore from the Backward Regions Grant Fund have been spent during the period for the projects concerned.

However, the residents might tell a stranger that he is seeing the matter through the wrong end of a telescope — the projects exist only on the office files.

Scarcity of potable water has been one of the biggest problems in Diphu. 

More than Rs 55 crore (Rs 24 crore from district rural development agency, Rs 5 crore from the fishery department, Rs 4 crore from the soil conservation department and the remaining amount from PHE department) have already been spent under various government programmes to eradicate the problem, but most of the funds are allegedly siphoned off by corrupt officials.

Even 59 years after installation of the Greater Diphu Water Supply Project, only 45 per cent population of Diphu town has been covered so far. In the past 15 years, crores of rupees have allegedly been spent on non-existent projects, which has further aggravated the water crisis in the hill district headquarters.

“When we saw the long lists of schemes we thought it was a political joke as we know these areas where there is no such water-harvesting schemes. We moved the offices concerned and found that what was written on the files are true,” said Diphu constituency CPI (M-L) leader Daniel Teron. 

“On paper, local legislator Bidya Sing Engleng has commissioned more than 30 water-harvesting projects utilising his area development fund in the past three years. We visited the sites, but no such project was to be found. Each of these projects cost at least Rs 5 lakh. Work is shown as completed by the DRDA and physical and financial progress are 100 per cent,” alleged Bidya Rangfar of Dharamnala.

Round the year, people in the town depend on only the PHE department scheme as geologically, areas under the Diphu constituency do not have enough groundwater. Diphu town receives 24 lakh litres of water per day against its requirement of 50 lakh litres. 

For the people in the adjoining rural areas, rain water is the only source, which worsens during winter. 

“We make holes in the PHE department pipes from Siloni to Diphu town and steal water,” said Stephen, a Kuki youth of Manja.

Poor roads, erratic power supply, lack of civic amenities and potable water crisis have been the main issues in Diphu all these years.

“We expected a long-term measure to put an end to the water crisis. Had the legislator taken the initiative to actually implement the water projects, which figure on the office files, which could have been a relief for the residents,” said Robinson Hanse, a Diphu resident.

Diphu constituency, 70 per cent of which is in rural areas, has 245 polling stations. It comprises 1.66 lakh voters of which 84,890 are male and 81,272 female. 

The 25,000 Bodo voters and 20,000-plus Dimasa voters play a role of kingmaker in the constituency. 

Since 2001, Congress candidate Bidya Sing Engleng has been representing the constituency. Engleng was the parliamentary secretary in the 2011 Tarun Gogoi cabinet. 

This time, Hills State Demand Committee leader and former Diphu Lok Sabha member Jayanta Rongpi, sitting MLA Engleng and former district Congress committee president, who later joined BJP, Som Ronghang are in the fray. 

“We want a politician who sincerely considers the major problems of Diphu town. Population is rising but supply of water is going down every day. Developed roads, systematic planning of urban areas are some symptoms of development. But these are not seen at all in Diphu during the 15-year Congress rule,” said Pratima Terangpi, a Karbi school teacher.

Karbi Anglong DRDA, however, claims that all water harvesting and fishery schemes executed by the agency under various government programmes are real.

“See, we have photographs and land-related documents. Photos were taken in different phases of execution. Our block-level officers and team from headquarters visit these schemes time to time,” said Karbi Anglong DRDA project director (in-charge) David Timung.