Several villages in Kusumanchi mandal, which houses the Palair balancing reservoir, a major source of drinking and irrigation water in the district, are reeling under acute drinking water shortage ahead of the peak summer months.
Villagers of Gattusingaram, Perikasingaram, Pocharam and various other habitations in the mandal are facing severe shortage of drinking water as majority of old wells and bore-wells have gone dry due to scarce rainfall in the last monsoon and depletion of groundwater table. Kusumanchi mandal recorded 482 mm rainfall as against the average rainfall of 726 mm in the last monsoon, sources said.
Poor rainfall coupled with depletion of water table has led to drying up of an old well, the main drinking water source for rural water supply project at Gattusingaram.
Although located just three km away from Palair balancing reservoir, the village is deprived of water till date. A project conceived around ten years ago to draw water from the reservoir has remained incomplete so far.
“The open well, which served our drinking water needs for decades, has gone dry even before the peak summer,” deplored Upender of Gattusingaram.
Of the eight bore-wells in the village, six have become defunct, he pointed out, saying that the alternative arrangement made by the gram panchayat, which hired two private wells, was of little use considering the 3,000 population of the village.
“We are compelled to walk long distances in the scorching heat to fetch drinking water from some wells situated in the neighbouring habitations,” said A. Bhagyamma of Gattusingaram.
When contacted, village sarpanch Ch. Parshuram said the long-delayed drinking water project envisaging supply of water from Palair reservoir to the village through pipelines was expected to become operational soon.
The project designed over ten years ago holds permanent solution to the drinking water woes of our village, he added.
