Residents protest in Tiruvannamalai against non-supply of drinking water

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Around 10 a.m. on Tuesday, residents of Keel Pudupakkam gathered at the centre of the village protesting against non-supply of water. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Keel Pudupakkam villagers near Cheyyar town in Tiruvannamalai on Tuesday protested against non-supply of drinking water to households for the past several weeks.

The village has around 2,500 families. With soaring temperatures in recent weeks, water supply to households, including street corner tanks were provided by the local panchayat on a regular basis.

Irregular supply of water forced residents to travel at least 5-10 km to fetch a few pots of water from Cheyyar and Vembakkam towns. “The Panchayat has completely stopped water supply to households in the hamlet for many weeks. As groundwater in the area is salty, we depend on water provided by the civic body for consumption,” said B. Kanchana, a resident.

  Around 10 a.m, residents gathered at the centre of the village and protested against panchayat officials, demanding resumption of water supply. Local police and revenue officials reached to the spot and pacified residents, who dispersed peacefully after assurance from authorities. “We have instructed panchayat officials to ensure regular water supply for consumption. We will also ensure that such basic amenities are available to residents without any delay,” said a revenue official.

Panchayat officials said on an average, over 1.25 lakh litres of water is required for household consumption alone every day. Most of the water is sourced from two borewells in Cheyyar river. Water from these borewells were pumped to four Over Head Tanks (OHTs) in the village.  

However, panchayat officials said that the existing motor pump sets attached to draw water from borewells in the riverbed were defunct. The pump sets for the borewells had to be repaired for resumption of regular water supply to residents.

Affected residents resided in tail-end areas that resulted in non-supply of water from Overhead tank. Efforts were taken to supply water to these affected areas through private tanker lorries till the pump sets are repaired in the coming days, panchayat officials said.

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