Kendrapara: The inhabitants of Charigaon Gandasahi Dalit Basti in Charigaon GP of Kendrapara block have no basic facilities.
On top of it, for five years they have been facing acute drinking water shortage, but the administration has failed to help them.
Fifteen Dalit families with around 100 people are staying in the slum. For drinking water the block administration had installed a tube-well. But most of the time it is dysfunctional. Although there is a well it dries up if the villagers draw around 30-40 buckets of water a day.
“As there is no other source available for drinking water we are forced to trek around a mile to collect dirty water from river Brahmani. It is a common sight in the village to see men and women going to the Brahmani carrying buckets and pots,” said Gouri Jena, a local woman.
Due to apathy of panchayati raj institute members and the block and district administrations, the villagers are forced to use the unhygienic river water for drinking.
“Our children do not bathe for days together due to water shortage. Adults generally bathe in nearby ditches. If the children bathe in the ditches they will get fever or develop skin diseases,” said Babaji Jena, a villager.
“Whenever the tube-well stops working, the villagers pool money and repair it. We approached the sarpanch, the BDO, the Collector and MLA Kishore Tarai, but to no avail,” the villagers said.
The village has no approach road. Everyday people suffer falls while negotiating the embankment road to the village. Although the villagers requested the sarpanch and the BDO several times to construct an approach road that has not been done.
LED bulbs have been provided to the panchayat, but not even a single bulb has been fitted on the electric pole at the entrance of the village on the embankment road, said Janaki Jena.
The children and pregnant women do not get nutritious food given under the ICDS programme from the Anganwadi. As the Anganwadi does not have staff, the staffer of a neighbouring Anganwadi has been attached to the centre. She generally supplies food only once in two or three months, the women of the Basti said.
As there is no approach road the villagers take the ill in slings to the embankment road, and from there they generally take 108 or 102 free ambulance or hire auto-rickshaws to the district headquarters hospital.
“During elections politicians visit the Dalit Basti with promises. But once that is over we are unwanted. This time we have decided to boycott polls as we are fed up of the false promises of politicians,” the villagers said.
When contacted, Dillip Kumar Jena, naib sarpanch, said he has raised the problems of the villagers with the sarpanch, and that soon they would be solved.
BDO Sudhir Kumar Singh said he joined recently, and that he would take steps to provide drinking water to the villagers either by repairing the tube-well or by installing a new one.
The approach road will be constructed under the Gopabandhu Gramin Yojana and work would start soon, he added.
PNN