Tempos come to aid of parched Faridkot residents

Tribune News Service

Faridkot, May 22

Amid the ongoing heatwave, households have been relying on the Department of Water Supply and Sanitation (DWSS) for potable water. However, shortage of supply has opened up job opportunities for unemployed persons who use Tempos to deliver water for 50 paisa per litre.

The water vendors get their tanks refilled from hand pumps installed on the banks of Rajasthan and Sirhind Feeder canals.

Tajinder Singh, a resident of Dashmesh Nagar in Faridkot, said: “A Tempo driver was offering 20 litre potable water for Rs 10, so I asked him to deliver water at my home. Earlier, I used to drive 3 km daily to fetch water from the hand pumps installed near the canals. Now, I am getting water for Rs 10 on our doorstep.”

Jaswant Singh, a Tempo driver, said, “I was unemployed for some time. Now, I am earning Rs 500 to Rs 700 per day by delivering potable water at households.”

Due to poor quality of groundwater and lack of adequate water supply, a large number of Faridkot residents fetch water from the hand pumps installed on the banks of the canals for drinking purposes.

Meanwhile, farmers who have land along the canals help refill the vendors’ water tanks. Even Radha Krishan Dham has installed a motor to help these vendors.

Notably, a report of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in 2011 had revealed that water drawn using hand pumps installed along the canls in Faridkot contained high traces of uranium.

While the groundwater has been declared unfit for human consumption due to high-fluoride content, the canal water is equally unhealthy for residents because of discharge of industrial waste.

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