Residents of Garudanpatti in M. Komarapalayam village panchayat came to the Collectorate here in large numbers on Monday to submit a petition that they have not received water for the last 25 days. They said that there were about 100 families in the area.
The drinking water is supplied from a borewell. Though the borewell and the pumping unit are set up on a poramboke land, a person recently encroached the area.
He has constructed a fence around the borewell and the pumping unit claiming that the land belonged to him, they said.
He is not allowing the village panchayat administration to operate the motor pump sets, said T.V.S. Ramasamy, a farmer.
The villagers said the said person had blocked the officials of various departments who, a few days back, came to the place to survey the area to find whether his claim of holding title deed for the land was right.
The villagers have to travel many kilometres to the nearby villages to get a few pots of water, they added.
Mr. Ramasamy said that if the district administration failed to restore the drinking water supply within a week, the residents would have to resort to agitation.
