Both Junior Engineer Naresh, whose job is to supervise the work, and the person he reports to, Executive Engineer Surat Singh Mann, wash their hands of.

“I have taken charge just four months back. You ask the previous JE,” says Naresh.

For his part, Mann, too, trots out the same reason: “I have taken over recently...the work will finish soon.”

A visit to the site where construction work is supposed to happen is revelatory. Reservoirs and tanks have been dug but are still to be connected to the water source. All rooms, meant for supervisory staff, are locked and there are no workers at the site.

And the government refuses to speed things up despite the fact that a state Health Department survey found that 29% of water samples in five districts is unfit for human consumption. That’s not all. Four district laboratories managed to test just 13,980 water samples as against the target of 94,000 samples during 2002-07.

No wonder then that a survey ordered by the Centre on the status of supply of drinking water has not been completed by the state government till date.

When contacted, Haryana Water Supply Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala blamed the previous Om Prakash Chautala government for not doing anything to complete the scheme between 2002 and 2005. “No work was done on the scheme during the reign of the previous government. Finally, work started in March-April 2005 and electric connection was given in October 2007. Now I have been told by the officials that the scheme would become operational by April 1,” he said.

... contd.