Drinking water crisis worsens in western Prakasam district

Ongole(Prakasam district): The villagers of C Kothapalli of Pullalacheruvu mandal recently obstructed the traffic on Yerragondapalem-Pullalacheruvu road, demanding regular supply of drinking water.

Water is being supplied to the village through tankers at least twice a week, but the contractor stopped the water supply for a few days. The villagers complained that the staff at the village secretariat or panchayat was not responding to their pleas, and they had to protest on the road to register their woes.

The similar situation exists in more than hundred villages like Muraripalli, Jayarampuram and others in the western region of Prakasam district, including Markapur, Yerragondapalem, Kanigiri, Giddalur and Darsi Assembly constituencies. The government supplies drinking water to villages through water tankers by identifying a source near them and pays the contractor and the source owner on a monthly basis.

The heat wave already started in the area and the existing water sources are depleting for the past few days, and the number of villages that require water through tankers is increasing. Some of the drinking water supply schemes, where the government has dug borewells and constructed tanks, were dried up or required repairs of motors.

On the other hand, failure of the government in paying dues for about Rs 50 crore since 2019 to the contractors discouraged them to run water tankers on more trips to the scarce villages.

The people from the villages are demanding the government to immediately repair borewells and motors and restart the water supply through tankers at any cost.

RWS&S Superintending Engineer Sk Mardan Ali explained that due to the prevailing drought conditions, drinking water scarcity in new habitations also arose. He said though they are digging borewells up to 1000 feet depth, they are drying up in a few weeks. He informed that district Collector Dinesh Kumar already appointed a committee to finalise the monthly rate for the new sources under the chairmanship of Markapur Sub-Collector. "We have prepared a list of 222 vulnerable habitations in Markapur revenue division and 91 habitations in Kanigiri revenue division, as per the contingency plan already and we are working to provide drinking water to the public at regular intervals," the SE added.