Water is everywhere in their vicinity in the beachfront habitations along the coastline of Machilipatnam. But there is hardly any water to drink for the people of nearly a dozen villages in the absence of regular supply by the authorities.
A tiny habitation of Sirivellapalem near the Manginapudi beach alone transports more than 100 20-litre water cans from the district headquarters of Machilipatnam every day.
“A family barely gets three pots of water when water is released into the pipeline system. Ironically, the authorities are releasing water once in three days, forcing us to survive with a pot of water per day. We are left with no option but to draw groundwater on the coast,” Sirivella Kotayya told The Hindu .
In a stretch of five km of the coastline, Sirivellapalem, Chinnapalem, Maridibba, Gokavaram, Peddareddy and Chinna Reddy Palem hamlets, Vadarevupalem, Baduguvaripalem, Kothreddypalem, Pathareddy palem and Manginapudi were the most affected from water scarcity due to the extreme weather conditions.
“Many villagers leak the water from the drinking water pipeline to divert it into a puddle for cattle. We are unable to stop the act despite we are aware of it as cattle too need the water,” said S. Suresh, a resident of a beach front village.
The villagers are not informed when water would be released through the pipeline. One has to keep an eye on the public tap. “Transportation of water in the beach front villages remains on the paper. There is no such facility in our knowledge till date in the summer,” added Mr. Kotayya.
‘Mysterious well’
Nestled between the backwaters and sea, water in an open well on the outskirts of the Manginapudi habitation is sweet and potable. “We strive to draw every drop of water from the mysterious well, in which sweet water recharges every day. It’s a good source to fetch a few pots of water from the well for the two habitations; Sirivellapaleam and Manginapudi,” says P. Vakalamma, a girl from Reddipalem.
