The residents of Chanot village have decided to continue their agitation after failing to secure an assurance from Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini for a water connection through a T-joint from the Bhakra drinking water pipeline meant for Hansi town.
An 11-member delegation of the protesting villagers met the Chief Minister in Chandigarh. Committee members Anoop Singh, Satyawan and Himanshu said that during the meeting, the Chief Minister stated that it was not possible to provide water to the village from the Bhakra pipeline. However, he assured them that a separate pipeline would be laid to supply water to the village.
After returning to the dharna site in Chanot, the delegation held discussions with the protesters, who reiterated their demand for a connection from the Bhakra pipeline. The villagers have now called a meeting on Friday to decide their future course of action.
The villagers have been staging a dharna demanding the installation of a T-joint on the Bhakra drinking water pipeline.
Notably, the district police had registered cases against several villagers, including six members of the committee leading the agitation, for allegedly illegally installing a T-joint in the pipeline. The villagers, however, claimed that the T-joint was fitted by a person identified as Somesh Kumar, who had presented himself as a representative of the state government.
The district administration later removed the T-joint, maintaining that the Bhakra pipeline was meant exclusively to supply drinking water to Hansi town under the AMRUT scheme.
Earlier, Education Minister Mahipal Dhanda, PWD Minister Ranbir Singh Gangwa, Inspector General of Police Kuldeep Singh and Deputy Commissioner Rahul Narwal had also held discussions with the villagers, but no resolution could be reached as the protesters remained adamant about obtaining water from the same pipeline.
