Day begins for Malo Bibi (60), and for all the women in the 22 Muslim households of Rungthangchhara in the same manner: Even before the sun is out, Malo rushes to an abandoned ONGC well 2 km away from her village so that she can collect water from the pit before others reach there to make it muddy. “A handpump was installed here prior to the 2003 polls. It has remained idle for over four years now,” she said.

Drinking water is a major problem for Rungthangchhara, located 55 km south of Agartala. Things are no better at Arjunsadhupara, a tribal village with 32 families, outside the Agartala municipality area.

Mangalakshmi Debbarma (63) walks early in the morning to collect water from a pit half-a-km down the hillock. “The Government had begun work on a water supply project at Bhadramisip-para, about a km away, in December. But the work has stopped due to the polls,” said a local resident, Sambhu.

Despite this problem, when political parties come asking for votes, none of the villagers ask them to provide drinking water. “We are poor people. How can we ask such questions?” said Rahim Miya (47) of Rungthangchhara.

It is not just water that these villages don’t have. “Children often fall ill because of the muddy water. But the nearest hospital — a government-run primary health centre — is five kms away at Bishramganj,” said Phulbanu Khatun. “The only time a health worker comes here is during pulse polio programme,” she added.

... contd.