Several parts of Perambalur town and villages of the district face acute shortage of drinking water supply.
The Tamil Nadu Water and Drainage (TWAD) Board operates two Kollidam Drinking Water Schemes for supplying drinking water to the district. While one of the schemes takes care of the requirement of residents of Perambalur Municipality, the other caters to the rest of the district.
The TWAD Board taps water from Sengaraiyur and Thalakudi in Tiruchi district in the Kollidam riverbed for the supply.
The existing Kollidam drinking water scheme for Perambalur was designed in 2004 when Perambalur was a town panchayat. It was designed to cater to the need of 37,000. The population has almost doubled since then. According to sources, it has increased to 70,000, causing a big gap between demand and supply. Similarly, the second Kollidam Combined Drinking Water Scheme was implemented in 2009. It was designed to supply 9 million litres a day (MLD).
Although the TWAD Board is managing to draw the maximum designed water from Kollidam sources, local bodies find it extremely difficult to get water from them, resulting in acute shortage of water supply in different parts of the district.
In Perambalur town, residents complain that they get water once in three to four days. Similar is the situation in most of 152 revenue villages in the district. Veppanthattai block is reeling under severe water crisis. Almost all lakes and tanks have gone dry. The wells and hand pumps have also dried up due to severe drought.
“We do not have a water source in about two km radius and we have not received water for more than 15 days,” says Sarasu of Kalpadi near Perambalur.
She says the village had two hand pumps, which have become defunct. Numerous petitions were submitted with the union officials to repair the hand pumps. But, no action has been taken.
Sincere attempts are being made to tide over the water crisis. A sum of ₹10 crore has been sanctioned to augment water sources. There is a proposal to implement an exclusive water scheme for Perambalur municipality in addition to the existing scheme, a senior official of the district told The Hindu .
