A unique service completes 30 years
Free water kiosks' network for commoners launched

 

Agra April 13, 2014 (IANS)

 

For 30 years, a  unique  network of water huts (pyaoos)  run by a group of volunteers in the Taj city, has been providing free and cold drinking water to padestrians, rikshaw -walas and others who can not afford bottled water.

 

Each summer, after Holi, a group of thirst quenchers calling themselves Sri Nath ji Nishulk Jal Sewa, with buckets and trolleys, starts setting up water kiosks at most busy crossings in Agra.

 

"It is neither a registered NGO nor a formal structured institution with a constitution. The members share a passion to ensure no one remains thirsty on the roads and this unites them into action," Bankey Lal Maheshwari, who coordinates the group activities, told IANS on Sunday after opening of a pyaoo near the Convent of Jesus and Mary on Wazirpura road.

 

From the modest beginning in the early 1980s, the Jal Sewa network today runs 70 odd water points in the city, besides a dozen night shelters in winter.

 

For a thirsty person in the scorching summer of Agra, a mug-ful of cold scented water is like nectar, says eminent physician of Agra MC Gupta.

 

Our activities became broadbased after the tragic Chattisgarh Express accident at Raja ki Mandi railway station, in 1987. "It was a hot June afternoon and there was no drinking water available around at the platform. Some of us got together and bought buckets and mugs, arranged for ice and provided water to those trapped victims in the compartments who were wailing and shouting for help," recalls Maheshwari.

 

 

How is the service funded and who are the promoters? Maheshwari explains  "Sri Nath ji (Lord himself) is the president and the funds come from private collections from small and big donors who voluntarily keep sending money, most do not even wish to be identified. We have no formal structure and no constitution. But our annual budget crosses a million rupees on water service in summer and night shelters we put up in winter."

 

Rajan Kishore, associated with the movement adds: " you dont find water being sold at road crossings in Agra as in Delhi and other big cities. The hygienic standards are high and the service employs more than 75 old men and women, most retired or thrown out of their homes, to run the system. Help comes from all corners. The Jal Sewa  is as unique as the Taj Mahal."