Demanding necessary action to prevent tanker lorry operators from drawing water from stone quarries, villagers of Mela Thattaparai, Keela Thattaparai and Silukanpatti thronged the Collectorate here on Monday.
Around 25,000 families live in these villages and their main occupation is agriculture and rearing livestock, they said. In a petition submitted to Collector M. Ravikumar, they said that water that remained in these quarries around their villages was the only source of drinking water and for other basic needs.
The tanker lorry operators had been illegally drawing water from such quarries and supplying it to industries. Some tanker lorries were also detained by the villagers while attempting to draw such water. Due to such incidents, law and order problems were likely to arise, they said.
Though such incidents were brought to the attention of the police personnel, no action had been taken against erring lorry operators. If no steps were taken, the villagers would lose their livelihood and would be forced to migrate to other places.
Meanwhile, members of the National Union of Fishermen, Thoothukudi led by its secretary, John P. Rayan sought concrete action plans to ensure regular supply of drinking water to residents of Thoothukudi. A petition to this effect was submitted to the Collector.
Mr. Rayan sought implementation of a concrete plan to address the drinking water needs of Thoothukudi populace permanently even in times of monsoon failure. A district-level committee involving the local public should be formed and the off take of water from the Tamirabarani river needs to be monitored collectively, he said and added that rainwater harvesting should be done on a large scale by the government to enhance groundwater levels. More importantly, water supply should be stopped to industries, he said. Currently, Thoothukudi district has a population of around 18 lakh people and it requires one crore litres of potable water daily.
Some transgenders approached the Collector and submitted petition seeking free house site pattas for their safe accommodation.
