Marching on to quench their thirst

Residents of SC colony at Rangapur hamlet have to walk one kilometre for drinking water everyday

The inhabitants of SC Colony Rangapur village in TAdvai mandal walk to stream pedda vagu and bringing drinking water. Photo: M. Murali

As the dawn breaks, both the young and the old from Rangapur hamlet, tucked in the deep forests of this mandal, make a beeline to the stream passing through the village outskirts to fetch drinking water.

The young carry a tumbler while the able-bodied a pail. Men, women and all other members of the family fetch the water that they would need for the day. Again at dusk, they repeat the exercise of walking this one kilometre stretch to the water source.

The hamlet that has 200-odd families has three bore-wells. About 40 families live apart in the SC colony that has no source of drinking water now.

They are forced to depend on two bore-wells. One is defunct and the other does not yield enough water. Hence, they are forced to depend on a stream called ‘Pedda vagu’.

“Our fortune is so that it does not dry even during peak summer,” says Badishe Venkateswarlu, an elderly man.

Speaking to

The Hindu , Salluri Venkateswarlu, another resident, says they had petitioned to the MRO who had promised to get the bores repaired but in vain.

“We wanted officials to construct one overhead tank and connect it to the stream. The overhead tank in the village is not able to cater to the needs of those in the SC colony,” he explained.

Women find it difficult to tackle the shortage of drinking water. For washing and bathing too, they have to walk to the stream.

The habitants carry enough water for drinking purposes and not more than that.

“We have been asking for a permanent solution for the past six to seven years.

The leaders and officers sympathise with us but nothing materialises at the end,” laments Gogu Narasimha, another resident. These habitants are apprehensive about the situation when the summer reaches its peak. “Since the last 20 days no one has turned up to repair the bore wells. In the days to come, we will have to face hard times,” says Chennuri Kavitha, a resident.