if the kanhar dam project had not been lingering for 35 years water problem could have been addressed entering mirzapur either from chunar or aurai side one notices that ceramic pottery and carpet industry is on the decline chunar had over 200 ceramic pottery units but the increasing cost of coal and poor valuation of our products resulted the closure of the units say ashok prajapai and santosh prajapati who now make plaster of paris idols to earn livelihood now only one ceramic pottery is functional in this area with the business having shifted to khurja the carpet belt has also shifted towards weaving of cheap cost floor coverings like their counterparts in bhadohi the brass industry has also lost it glitter after the closure of many units while others have shifted to moradabad a visit to chunar and bhatauli ghats reveals how projects have fallen prey to political rivalries the mulayam singh yadav government had laid the foundation of two bridges on the ganga but during the regime of mayawati only a few pillars were constructed on both banks of the river some crusher units operate in marihan but do not generate enough employment big farm houses can be seen in areas along the madhya pradesh border in chhanbey assembly but the interior areas present a picture of backwardness and poverty in the name of development chandauli only has a good network of canals and biggest railway yard of asia at mughalsarai pawan singh a farmer of baburi village says the district is known as the rice bowl but during the long spell of drought from 2002 to 2009 local farmers were badly hit the reason most of the canals are charged from the water stocked at dams which remained dry due to insufficient rain during drought the farmers of these districts complain they do not get proper rates for paddy at the purchasing centres set up by the government moreover paddy bought by the government is often dumped in the open along the roads people in all the assembly segments of these districts want the new government to save the dying industries generate employment and provide better infrastructure and facilities in 2007 assembly election in chunar assembly seat was fought on caste lines many candidates were of the same caste and the subcaste and gotra cards were also played this is the same seat from where bharatiya janata partys senior leader om prakash singh has been winning for past many elections he is again in the fray but unlike previous election this time the parties are avoiding playing the caste card the bahujan samaj party has fielded ghanshyam singh samajwadi party jagdamba patel and congress ramraj patel mirzapur city assembly seat is also witnessing a close contest bsp has fielded rangnath mishra who was dropped from the maya cabinet on charges of corruption the area is new for rangnath whose traditional aurai assembly seat was declared reserved for sc postdelimitation sitting