For the 35-odd families of Nelangur — a remote hilly village deep inside Abujhmad forests in Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur district — summer ordeal of travelling long distances for water may be a thing of the past.
Once a Maoist stronghold, the village on the Chhattisgarh-Maharashtra border and nearly 52 km from the district headquarter, received tap water connection this past week. This means that the families residing here would no longer be dependent on streams and endure shortage of water at this time of the year, said officials.
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Narayanpur Collector Namrata Jain said that a water supply system had been set up in the village under the Jal Jeevan Mission. Water was being lifted from the source using a solar pump and supplied directly to homes through pipelines, she added.
Another government official said the village long struggled with drinking water scarcity. Located in the remote Orchha block of Narayanpur district near the Maharashtra border, “the village is now witnessing a clear shift in daily life as piped water reaches households across this once highly sensitive area”.
