Being administered by two State governments has actually turned into a curse for the people of Parandoli and Antapur gram panchayats in Kerameri mandal of Adilabad district, more so in terms of drinking water availability.
A territorial dispute between Telangana and Maharashtra has left people as well as animals in the 12 villages under these gram panchayats located on the hilly inter-State border, thirsting for water. Maharashtra and Telangana lay claim to an 80 sq km territory on the border between Rajura taluka of Chandrapur district and Kerameri mandal of Adilabad, encompassing the dozen villages.
The dispute is under consideration of the Supreme Court and as such, both States are administering the villages. The lack of coordination between the two sides, however, is the chief cause of trouble for the people of these villages.
For example, if the Maharashtra government constructs an overhead water reservoir in a given village, it is not connected with power supply, which is in the hands of the Telangana government. “This bore well was sunk by Maharashtra but lies waste for want of power supply or at least a handpump,” points out Lendiguda Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituency member from Telangana, Kamble Kondabai.
Villagers will soon face a crisis as the open well, their only source of drinking water, located about 100 metres deep in a valley, will go dry in a couple of weeks.
“We have sunk some 400 tube wells in these villages but failed to strike a good source. Our efforts to get the district administration to connect these villages to the Kumram Bheem Drinking Water Scheme also failed,” says Telangana side Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency member Abdul Kalam, of what was done and what was ignored in mitigating the water problem in these villages.
MLA ‘seized of matter’
Rajura MLA from Maharashtra side, Sanjay Dhote, told The Hindu that he is seized of the matter.
“I have submitted a starred question in the current session of the Maharashtra Assembly on the issue, which is likely to be taken up in the next few days,” he says, hoping to get the water problem addressed by his government.
Reason: no coordination between TS and Maharashtra
