The channels of power

‘‘It’s a promise that has repeatedly been made for the last 50 years,’’ says a smiling Agrendra Kumar Meghwal, who joined the BJP bandwagon just before the heat and dust of politics took over the arid constituency. ‘‘People always believe because they have no other choice. A promise keeps their hopes alive.’’

So Singh promises them water from the Narmada. ‘‘The project had been stalled because Rajasthan didn’t pay its share of the construction money,’’ he explains. ‘‘But that’ll get sorted out now.’’ So everywhere he goes, he tells people that water is his priority. ‘‘I can’t announce grand schemes because of the code of conduct,’’ he tells residents of Sudaberi. ‘‘But I will get the water.’’

Over 300 kms away, in villages of Bikaner, Dharmender is making the same promise. ‘‘In all my traveling so far, I have realised that water is the biggest issue,’’ he says seriously. ‘‘I have been thinking about it and there are many plans in my head, about linking rivers from Punjab, creating better supply systems, more reservoirs. In Dubai, I have seen how they treat sea water and use it. So the saline water here can also be made sweet. Of course, I don’t know how much this would cost or the modalities, but it will be a priority.’’

Everywhere people listen indulgently. Even as both Singh and Dharmender address meetings, a handful of women queue up at wells to fills their pots. They don’t attend the meetings and they never hear the promises.

Across Rajasthan, as the mercury climbs higher, the cry for water is becoming louder. But for the moment, thirsty villagers have to content themselves with the promise of more, later.

‘‘Canal politics has always been a pet theme with politicians of this belt,’’ says a disinterested Bagh Singh, adding that so far Sobasariya hasn’t even heard the routine promises from Dharmender or Congress candidate Rameshwar Dudi. ‘‘They are digging channels to get the canal water into our fields, but one never knows when they will finish. It could take years. So technically we don’t have water.’’

But while Bagh Singh waits for the 50 km distance between the canal and his field to be covered, hundreds of kms away in Nagaur, candidates are already promising water from the Indira Gandhi canal.

In Churu district, parts of which already get water from the canal, Congress candidate Balram Jhakar has assured Lal Chand that ‘‘sweet water’’ will reach his roadside dhaba in Ratangadh also.

‘‘But we don’t want the water,’’ says Chand laughing. ‘‘Seriously, we have all the water we need here. But you know politicians. They get stuck on things, even if people don’t really need it. Either way it is just a promise.’’

In Jhunjhunu, Sisram Ola has been making that promise for over two decades. ‘‘Forget the canal, we haven’t even seen a drain so far,’’ say cynical villagers. But they hear about it every once in a while.

Ironically, even in the well-watered fields of Sriganganagar, politics is about water. Even as officials in the irrigation and water resources department try and highlight the need to stop flood irrigation and switch to sprinkler systems, fights still break out if water supply is reduced.

For the moment, as water tankers and trains race across the state, people are busy storing up. Nobody believes the politician. ‘‘We can’t wait another 50 years,’’ says Bagh Singh, who manages to water his 200 bigha of land and ignore the diminishing returns he is getting. ‘‘Work has started so I guess it will finish, some day.’’