Our Correspondent
Kiphire | December 3
The water crisis plaguing Kiphire Town for nearly a year refuses to go away. For the 500 odd water supply consumers in the town, there is no indication as to when supply will be restored.
Citizens have been raising their concerns on the condition of the supply pipes frequently, but there seems to be no respite for their plight.
With no sign of enhancing the current 65 mm diameter supply pipes to the required 200mm, consumers have had to depend on water sellers. Officials from the department, when contacted also acknowledged that the town’s water crisis would continue till the pipes are replaced.
They assured that the department has been working, but that it would take time, as the present problem has to do with accumulation of decade’s worth of sediments in the rusted pipes, and not to do with leakage or breakage of pipes.
There is also the difficulty in pinpointing the exact point of the blockage, as the supply line is about 15 kms in length.
“However, we are giving pour best and the only solution is to dig out the whole stretch where the pipes are laid, which will take time because of rubbles. But that is the only solution and we are going to take up this task to restore water,” one department official said.
The Morung Express carried a story on the same issue in May this year, pointing to the same problems and how water sellers have become the sole supply source for people in the town. Seven months since, people in the town continue to suffer.
More recently, citizens of the town have tried their best to adapt to their pitiful situation. Citizens have started renovating their traditional wells, ponds and springs for water supply. The Land Resource Department has also initiated a project to harvest water, called ‘Spring Shed Development,’ which is still in its initial stages.
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