Jhabua district in Madhya Pradesh faces a severe water crisis despite the implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission. Nearly 430 crore rupees have been spent on laying pipelines and building infrastructure, yet villages like Kheda, Dhundhlpura, and the Bakatpura ward of Para Panchayat remain without tap water. Women are forced to dig pits in dry riverbeds to find muddy water, while other families pay for water tankers. Official records claim that work has been completed in 519 out of 713 villages and handed over to local panchayats. The Public Health Engineering Department maintains that the projects are finished, and the minister attributes the dry taps to harsh summer conditions and depleting groundwater levels. However, residents allege that the installed taps have never provided water, and purification systems remain unused due to a lack of electricity connections. The situation raises serious questions about the execution and monitoring of the multi-crore water supply scheme in the region.
