How Madhya Pradesh 'Save Water' Campaign Turned Into Dry Fruit Festival

Madhya Pradesh's ambitious 'Jal Ganga Sanvardhan Abhiyan', aimed at water conservation, is making headlines in Shahdol district, not for restoring water bodies or planting saplings, but for reviving the dry fruit market.

Launched with the noble vision of "community participation in water conservation and preservation," the campaign was supposed to involve construction of new water harvesting structures, renovation of existing ones, cleaning of water sources and distribution systems, plantation drives near water bodies, and awareness programs to build a people's movement around saving water.

But in the tribal village of Jhunjha, under Bhadwahi Gram Panchayat, this vision has drowned in a pool of almonds, cashews, and namkeen.

On May 25, during a one-hour "Bori Bandhan" event - meant to promote water retention through sandbag bunding - about 15-20 officials were welcomed with a five-star buffet rather than clean water.

Here's what flowed freely: 12 kg dry fruits (5 kg cashews, 5 kg almonds, and 3 kg raisins), 9 kg fruits (bananas, apples, grapes, pomegranates), 30 kg snacks, and tea brewed with 6 litres milk and 5 kg sugar - enough to supply a small town's tea stall for a week.

All these for a meeting that lasted barely 60 minutes.

The official bill submitted by the Gram Panchayat shows Rs 5,260 was spent on fruits and Rs 19,010 on dry fruits and namkeen. While this took care of the officials, villagers were left struggling with parched handpumps and bone-dry fields.

When NDTV questioned the extravagant expenses, Additional CEO of District Panchayat, Mudrika Singh, said, "We went there with the administration and local villagers for the Bori Bandhan. It's a remote area, so food was arranged. We will investigate the Rs 19,000 dry fruit bill."

Shahdol had recently made headlines for the bizarre "4 litres of paint, 168 workers" scam in government schools - reflecting how public schemes here generate more headlines than help.

The 'Jal Ganga' campaign aimed to become a people's movement for water conservation, but in practice, it has become a movement of disbelief - where every litre of missing water was replaced by a spoonful of trail mix. In Shahdol, the taps are dry, but the hospitality budget is overflowing. And while the land waits for water, the only thing being conserved is silence.