Pratapgarh News Desk: Illegal water exploitation has been going on continuously since last few days in the famous pilgrimage site of Kanthal, Malwa and Vagad and the pond located at Gautameshwar Mahadev, a major religious tourist destination of Pratapgarh district. In this regard, demands are being raised by environmentalists and Mahant of Gauteshwar Math for the last one month. But no steps are being taken by the administration to conserve water here. On the other hand, water is being stolen indiscriminately here. It is noteworthy that water is being stolen here for the last one month. Due to which the pond is also becoming empty. In this regard, Mahant Anandpuri of Gauteshwar Math and environmentalists also gave a memorandum to Revenue Minister Hemant Meena in a public hearing in the Panchayat Samiti premises, demanding to stop illegal water exploitation from Gauteshwar Pond. In which a demand has been made to stop illegal water exploitation. But no attention is being paid by the administration. Due to which illegal water exploitation is going on indiscriminately. About one and a half dozen electric motors are being run here. Ten to twenty motors are running continuously. Villagers alleged that the motors were running on illegal electrical connections. But no action is being taken even by the Electricity Corporation.
Illegal pipelines up to five kilometers long
The villagers alleged that the water of the pond is being exploited indiscriminately. Villagers told that water is being extracted for a distance of five to seven kilometers and is being transported through pipeline. Due to this, the water of the pond has started emptying before time. There has been a demand to ban this.
Devotees visiting the pilgrimage area of Gautameshwar are likely to face the problem of water in summer. Cattle from nearby villages also come to drink water from this pond. There is a lot of difficulty in getting drinking water even in the temple premises. Due to the pond being filled with water, water seepage from the hill in front of the temple keeps the pond filled throughout the year. Whereas there is water in the drains of the entire forest also.
