With drought-like situation intensifying, drinking water crisis has hit several parts of the district. Collector Sandeep Nanduri received a number of petitions on Monday during the weekly grievance redressal meet appealing him to take effective measures to the assuage drinking water problem prevailing in their area.
In their petition, residents of Thiruchitrambalam near Tenkasi said that the 170 families living in this backward area were struggling to get drinking water for the past 18 months as they had to get water from sources situated beyond 5 km from their hamlet.
Though, they had contributed ₹250 per family and had sunk a deep borewell, it could not meet the actual demand of the villagers since the groundwater table in the area had gone down alarmingly owing to lack of rainfall. Hence, they sought the district administration to take effective steps for providing them with drinking water.
Residents of wards 4 to 8 of Veerakeralampudhur also submitted a similar petition. The petitioners said that they were getting only three pots of drinking water a day and they had to buy water for bathing and washing purposes at exorbitant price. While implementing a new drinking water scheme for the benefit of Veerakeralampudhur town panchayat, as an emergency measure, the district administration should sink deep borewells in their area, they added.
Villagers of Paappaiahpuram and Shanmugapuram under Maanur union, who came to the Collectorate with empty pots, said the hamlets housing more than 1,000 families did not have a drinking water scheme so far and the drought-like situation had worsened the crisis. They also sought deep borewells in their areas.
Residents of Rajangapuram under Govindaperi panchayat, who came to the Collectorate with their ration cards, said they had to walk for about 1.50 km for getting essential commodities from a ration shop in the nearby village though the population in their village was nearly 1,000. The villagers, mostly labourers, had to sacrifice even their small earnings to travel to the nearby village. So steps should be taken for setting-up at least a part-time ration shop at Rajangapuram, the petitioners said.
On behalf of Puthiya Thamizhagam, party functionary M. Mariappan submitted a petition against the move to shift the ration shop from New Colony to the Police Quarters, which was situated 4 km away from the existing spot.
Differently-abled youth C. Manikandan of Azhagiyapandiapuram near Maanur submitted a petition seeking employment in a government department either for him or for his wife as he was struggling even to feed his children.
