A 36-day-long agitation by residents of Hansi’s Chainat village ended late Saturday night after the state government reportedly accepted the protesters’ key demand of supplying Bhakra canal water to the village through the same drinking water pipeline being laid for Hansi city.Former president of Haryana Sarpanch Association Somesh Kumar offers juice to elderly protesters, bringing their hunger strike to an end in Hansi, on Sunday. (Manoj Dhaka/HT)The breakthrough came amid reports that the Congress was planning to bring the leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, to the protest site, to make it a major political issue.The task of negotiating with the villagers was reportedly entrusted to Somesh Kumar, former president of the Haryana Sarpanch Association. According to the villagers, Somesh’s intervention paved the way for ending the month-long protest.Hansi deputy commissioner Rahul Narwal said he received input that the protest had ended. When asked whether the government had accepted their demands, Narwal said, “Providing water is our priority and we will do so. It does not matter where the water will be provided, we will also renovate the village’s water tank.”The development came a day after Narwal expressed concerns about the safety of the elderly people who had been on a hunger strike for the past couple of days.The dispute revolved around the ₹80-crore under-construction drinking water project under the Centre’s AMRUT scheme, through which Bhakra canal water is being brought from Rajli Head in Barwala to Hansi city through a nearly 30-km-long pipeline.As the pipeline reached Chainat village, residents demanded that their village should also receive drinking water from the same line passing through their area. The administration, however, maintained that the project was designed exclusively for Hansi city and initially proposed laying a separate pipeline for the village. The villagers rejected the proposal and insisted on being connected to the main pipeline. The disagreement led to a protest and the villagers gained support from opposition parties, starting an indefinite hunger strike.On Sunday, Somesh arrived at the protest site and informed members of the sangharsh samiti that the government had accepted their demand and work on the required T-point connection had already begun. Soon after the announcement was made from the protest stage, the dharna was formally called off and villagers offered juice to five fasting villagers, ending their indefinite hunger strike on the 13th day. The villagers started the protest on May 16.