Tikiri: The residents of Bahar Kutami in the Shankarda panchayat of Rayagada district have approached the local administration demanding a proper road and safe drinking water facilities for their village several times, but no one has paid attention to their pleas so far.
The village which is only two km away from the panchayat office has around 70 families. There is only a single tube-well in the village, which has failed to meet the drinking water needs of the people.
As a result the villagers are forced to depend on a nearby stream for drinking water and other needs. But the stream has dried up, and villagers are facing problems in getting drinking water even though summer is far away.
“We have been suffering drinking water shortage in winter itself,” said Salu Majhi, Salup Majhi and Param Majhi of the village.
Similarly, another village, Bhitara Kutumi, in the same panchayat, located a few miles away also faces the same problem.
Drinking water shortage is not limited to these two villages. Villages like Talaatasi and Uparatasi in Shankarda gram panchayat are also facing the same problem.
The villages have no proper roads too. The residents of these villages have to walk on bumpy roads.
The road issue is quite serious as the villagers have to carry seriously ill patients and pregnant women to the hospital manually.
PNN