Over a lakh residents from East Midnapore’s 25 blocks are reeling under a drinking water crisis for the past fortnight but officials can’t implement solutions to it as the model code of conduct is in place in view of the lengthy eight-phase Bengal elections.

People in Nandigram, Khejuri, Ramnagar, Bhagabanpur, Potashpur and parts of Contai are facing one of the worst water crises in the middle of a scorching summer and the pandemic.

Elections in these places ended nearly a month ago, but as the model code of conduct stays in place till May 2, when results are announced, neither the panchayat authorities nor public health and engineering department who are tasked with drinking water supply here, can repair or install pumps and pipelines.

Drinking water is mainly sourced from hand pumps in this area, and less commonly through motorised submersible pumps which feed pipelines in the area.

However, groundwater level has gone down, like it does every summer. Pumps and pipelines need to be repaired or replaced, which comes under the ambit of tenders that are forbidden till the model code is in place.

“Our elections ended weeks ago but we are still suffering from election restrictions and many of us have to lug buckets of water for a kilometre or more,” said Piyush Panda, 60, a farmer from Uttar Lakhi village where most tube wells can’t pump water anymore.

“Women are using dirty pond water for cooking and washing the dishes. We are used to the problem of drinking water every summer but are not used to not having it resolved soon,” he added.
Panda's fate is shared by several residents of neighbouring villages, where panchayat and zilla parishad authorities said they were aware of the problem and had petitioned district authorities “repeatedly” for two weeks to take some action. “But our hands are tied owing to the model code,” said one panchayat member.

Zila parishad functionary and Trinamul nominee from Khejuri Partha Pratim Das admitted that “work was hard to get done during the elections”. “We have informed the district administration regarding the problem but they have not responded,” he said.

Another senior Trinamul worker said public health and engineering officials were supposed to connect 10,000 new households with piped water but could not do so because of the elections.

Asked, executive district engineer (Tamluk), Shaktipada Mondal, said: “We had contacted the departments concerned on the water crisis on April 1 but as far as we are aware no clearances have been granted. We are looking into temporary solutions to alleviate people’s problems for the time being.”