Hatadihi: With normal life severely affected due to the heatwave, residents in two locked panchayats under this block of Keonjhar district are facing acute drinking water scarcity. The situation has turned really bad as the tube wells in the villages are not working. Many opined that the groundwater level has decreased at an alarming rate and that is the main reason for the tube wells turning non-functional.
Sources said that more than 800 families reside in the nine villages hit by drinking water scarcity. Among them are Daliki, Pitanau, Malipasi, Saramundi, Junapasi, Raighati, Siadimalia and Haradabadi. However, other villages in this block are not facing the same problem.
On the other hand, for the women of these nine affected villages, the summer has turned into a nightmare. They have to trudge for more than five kilometres every day to get water from creeks and other sources. Over 90 per cent of the people in these villages work as casual labourers to earn a living. Hence they do not also have the resources to buy water. While mega drinking water projects have been implemented in other parts of this block, these nine villages have been deprived. The villagers have lodged several complaints with the block officials but their pleas have not been addressed. When contacted, block development officer (BDO) Soumyashree Panigrahi admitted Friday that there is drinking water scarcity in the nine villages. He said that drinking water is being supplied to these villages through two tankers to ease the problems faced by the villagers. He informed me that he has written to senior officials for installation of four tube wells at Junapasi village and Malipasi village. The tube wells will be installed after receiving the orders from higher authorities, he said. Panigrahi also said that so far 178 complaints regarding drinking water scarcity have been received from various villages in the block out of which 176 have been resolved. The remaining two complaints will be resolved soon, he added.