Lok Sabha 2024: Water crisis in Bihar’s Gaya remains major concern for voters

Water scarcity in Gaya, India, leads to daily struggles for residents, with promises of relief from politicians.

As the summer draws forth, several localities in Gaya face problems stemming from water shortages. In the Gewalbigha area, a Dalit dominant area, the problem is especially acute. Pinki Devi, a resident of Gewalbigha locality in the heart of the city of Gaya, has to fetch five buckets of water twice a day amid a scarcity of water in the area.

Although there is a pipeline in the area, it does not suffice given that the water levels have gone down lower than 150 feet. The only source of water for the people in the area passes through a drainpipe.

Tap water is available two times a day morning for half an hour. With some 25 odd taps in the area, the half hour window is all the time the locals get to utilise the incoming water.

“We can collect as much as water in these two half hour slots; we wash our utensils and clothes, as well as bathe the children within this time. We face this problem every summer. Our houses are located up high on the hill, so we are forced to travel some distance to reach here and then carry the water back,” Ms. Devi said while bathing her two children.

As elections are nigh, politicians waltz in with promises of bringing water to the nearby Phalgu river. But each time the status quo marches on.

Sagar Ram, another resident of the locality, said, “Politicians come every election season and promise us to provide safe drinking water. But nothing ever happens. This water passes through the drain; you can see how ‘safe’ it is. And yet, we have no other option but to use this water. We use it for nearly everything, including cooking. We are living a pathetic life over here.”

Every summer, many villages like Dumrawa, Bankebazar, Siddhpur, Jingatiya, and others in the Sherghati, Imamganj, and Barachatti area face water scarcity. The villagers are compelled to walk for miles in order to fetch mere buckets of water.