Morung Express News
Dimapur | March 21
It’s the international year of water cooperation, marked March 22 as World Water Day. In general, the day acknowledges water as the prime resource that sustains life. Is it necessary? Surely not for human beings who acknowledge this importance every day. But surely necessary for governments rapidly failing in their job of ensuring water to citizens. Each year, about 2.8 million people die of problems related to water supply, sanitation and hygiene.
Though the picture is not so stark in Nagaland, blessed with its water resources, the shoddy, not to mention corrupt, level of water management in the Nagaland government could contribute to the digits above in the future. This is exemplified by the response to an RTI application that was filed in Mokokchung last year that asks simple questions and gets strange answers.
The RTI inquisition, filed by the RTI cell of the Mokokchung Town Lanur Telongjem (MTLT), asks the Department of Irrigation and Flood Control for a list of projects undertaken in Mokokchung district, the amount of money spent on projects and their beneficiaries in 2011-2012. As per the Department’s records, out of an estimated expenditure of Rs. 5,65,15,500 (Five crore sixty five lakh fifteen thousand five hundred), an amount of Rs.1,18,10,000 (One crore eighteen lakh ten thousand) has been sanctioned.
Activists wonder where this money has been invested for the year while farmers continue to either route their own water or face difficult conditions during lean seasons.
On investigation, they find that a beneficiary of the Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Program (AIBP) is a ghost and the other bogus. “One Lepjen, a beneficiary under AIBP amounting to Rs.3,26,100 (Mokokchung sadar sl.no.18) is a ghost beneficiary while one Onen, also a beneficiary under AIBP amounting to Rs.17,04,400 (under Mokokchung sadar sl.no.28) is a bogus beneficiary.
The former is non-existent while the latter simply drew the money without actually doing any work on ground,” they share.
The said department is not alone. Another RTI inquiry to the Department of Public Health Engineering (PHED) threw up great news. Apparently, this department can supply nearly 3 lakh liters of water per day to the town through a distribution network whose maintenance cost Rs. 83,79,000 in 2010-11 and Rs. 58,94,992 in 2011-12, according to then Executive Engineer PHED of the Mokokchung Division. People’s reality, however, does not reflect these figures. “It is anybody’s guess whether the PHED is supplying the required quantity of water daily or not. Whatever reasons the PHED may try to concoct, the truth remains that not a drop of water is delivered,” say activists from MTLT’s RTI cell.
While these allegations should have both the departments as well as the State Vigilance Commission on their toes to polish up the system, the contrary has happened. Activists who are making the state’s job easier by pointing the discrepancies out have been receiving calls, first with the offer of a bribe to hold the information back, and then a call of threat. “A day into it and I’m getting threat calls already,” says one of them with a smile. Sadly, this behavior is expected from the government.
As the world negotiates how to cooperate on inter governmental basis to avoid water wars, the local government here is not cooperating even with “its own” people. While celebrating World Water Day this year, then, remember to keep filing those RTIs from your district and trace where the money and water flow. It could be the required start to plugging necessary holes.
