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Journalism of Courage
August 30 was the first time 76-year-old Anjaria Yadav saw water flowing from a tap in Uttar Pradesh’s Lahuria Dah village. Like her, the whole village knew who to thank: “It was DM sahab (District Magistrate Divya Mittal) who made it possible,” said Yadav, sitting at her son’s tea stall on the highway which leads to Rewa in Madhya Pradesh.
Lahuria Dah, in eastern UP, is located on a hilltop in the semi-arid landscape of Mirzapur district. Residents say they have so far relied on tankers that provide 15-30 litres per person, a small “jharna” (reservoir) around 1 km away, and a well that was repaired when Mittal took the initiative after being posted in the district in September last year.
On August 30, after piped water finally reached the village, Mittal (39) held a small “jal pujan”, where she opened a tap with running water for the first time. Days later, on September 1, the 2013-batch IAS officer was transferred to Basti district in eastern UP, before being put on a waitlist by the state government.
UP Additional Chief Secretary (Appointment and Personnel), Devesh Chaturvedi, did not respond to calls or text messages seeking comment on the transfer.
After the small event at the village, Mittal had tweeted: “Today my heart is full. Water is flowing in Lahuriya Dah and through my eyes and the eyes of people there. Even after 75 years of Independence, people of the village did not have access to water… When I went there for the first time, I did not have the heart to drink water from my bottle in front of the villagers. Aadhaar cards were used to issue water through tankers. People did not marry their daughters to this village.”
“But yesterday, that changed. After dedicated work of nine months, our team beat the challenges of geography, finances and other logistics, achieving what people said was impossible. Today, through the ‘Har Ghar Jal’ scheme, piped connections to supply clean, safe water directly to every home in the village was started,” she wrote. “Days like today make all the struggle worth it… Together, we can make a difference and Together, we will! Jai Hind! Jai Bharat!”
Following the “jal pujan”, local BJP leader Vipul Singh, the district’s vice-president of the party, had written a letter to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, complaining about Mittal. Speaking to The Indian Express, Singh said, “Lahuria village has had water issues for ages and tankers have to be deployed. It is under the ‘Har Ghar Jal Yojana’ that the Prime Minister and Chief Minister launched the scheme here and water reached the village. It is the District Magistrate’s responsibility to ensure that the scheme is implemented and water reaches villages. But the inauguration has to be done by someone from the government. This is the protocol, and culture too. The local MLA, MP, and others were not invited.
Now, if such a thing is done, it is something to feel bad about.”
On September 4, the pipe supplying water to the village was broken by “anti-social elements” and the supply stopped once again. Though the village head filed a police complaint, for now Lahuria Dah has no choice but to wait, once more, for water.
But for villagers, the news of Mittal’s transfer has been just as bitter. Anjaria Yadav’s son Heeralal (47) said that as news spread, it felt “like a loved one had left, and chulhas were not lit that night”.
Lahuria Dah has a population of around 1,500 people and falls in the most backward regions of eastern UP. It is inhabited mostly by members of the Dalit community, with some Yadav and Baniya homes.
Kaushalendra Kumar Gupta, the village head for Devhat, which comprises 15 small villages including Lahuria Dah, said most of the funds meant for development are spent on providing water through tankers to that village. “One tanker that comes here costs Rs 800. And generally, eight-ten tankers are needed each day. In summer, the need increases to 10-15. Devhat gram sabha is currently in debt of Rs 20 lakh because we have been paying for water from private tankers,” said Gupta (47), who was elected village head in 2021.
“Since becoming pradhan, I have written to everyone – MP, MLA, ministers. But no one heard us. False promises were made. The new DM came and I wrote to her, and she came here on November 2 last year. She promised she would give us water. And today, you can see that each house has taps and a water connection,” said Gupta, sitting at the government primary school in the village.
Such has been the reputation of Lahuria Dah that outsiders refrain from marrying their sons and daughters to residents of the village. “After all, everyone knows the village doesn’t have water,” said Suraj (29), a daily wager married to Ramkali from the village. “Divya madam ne jo kar diya who koi nahi kar pata (No one else could have done what she did).”
Devkali (40), whose husband is differently-abled and who relies on her children’s earnings to run her family, held back tears as she said, “When I heard she is being transferred, my heart almost stopped. Everyone just wants credit.”
Lahuria Dah falls under Mirzapur Lok Sabha constituency and Chhanbey Assembly constituency – both with BJP ally Apna Dal (S). While Mirzapur MP is Union Minister Anupriya Patel, Chhanbey’s MLA is Rinki Kol.
With the pipeline now broken, the village is back to depending on tankers. A queue had formed on the highway before the tanker arrived at 12.50 pm on Thursday. Mostly women and children lined up and took turns to fill buckets before making the uphill trek back to their village.
Some others went to the “jharna” a kilometre away. The reservoir or pit is a natural one and rainwater is collected between rocks. The task is arduous, and some women and children go and bathe there so they don’t have to climb back up with buckets or pots of water.
On Thursday afternoon, Rajkali (35) and niece Usha (16) were washing clothes in the pale water collected between rocks after rain on Wednesday night. “Most of the time, this is dry, but since it rained yesterday, there is water here. I wash clothes and bathe here in the open, and then carry some water for use at home,” said Ramkali. “You can see how dirty this is, but this is our destiny.”
After her transfer order arrived, Mittal tweeted: “Packing things at home today, my hands and heart feel heavy. In a government job, moving is part of the job, but the love given to me by Mirzapur will never be forgotten by me…”
On the day of her farewell, villagers of Lahuria Dah arranged five cars to take 30-40 people to the district headquarters, while people from across Mirzapur gathered to thank her. A video clip showed rose petals being showered on her, and a tearful Mittal thanking people.
Mittal, who has an MBA from IIM Bangalore and did her B.Tech from IIT Delhi, had quit her job as an exotic derivatives trader in London to join the civil services. “What do I say? This is an emotional moment for me… I am very happy that water has reached the village,” she told mediapersons earlier.
Mittal did not respond to calls or text messages from The Indian Express seeking a comment on her transfer.
An official in the Mirzapur district administration called Mittal “fearless”. “This is a minor setback for her. Whatever she touches will turn to gold,” said the official, who worked with her. “The work to make water reach the village required coordination from at least six departments like Jal Nigam, Road and Transport. She got things done.”
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