SC colony residents stage stir for water

Chittoor: The SC residents of Thoppanapalli village in GD Nellore mandal staged a dharna with empty pitchers at the Collectorate here on Monday, demanding that the district administration should provide drinking water to their colony. They raised slogans against the district officials for failing to attend their needs.

Addressing the residents, Harijanawada president Penchalaiah said that they had submitted several representations to the officials concerned either to drill a hand borewell or to supply water through a hired tanker once in three days as the existing hand borewell had become defunct. He stated that upper caste residents of the village are not allowing them to draw water from their borewells.

“We are forced to purchase drinking water from a private tanker,” he regretted. Penchalaiah alleged that the state government is reluctant to protect the interests of the Madiga community. He urged District Collector P S Pradyumna to visit their colony once to know the plight of residents. Ravulamma, a member of Self-Help Group (SHG) said that she met the local MPDO and VRO on several occasions and requested them to take immediate measures for providing drinking water to the colony.

She lamented that they cannot afford to purchase drinking water. Later, the colony residents submitted a memorandum to the Collector in the weekly grievance redressal programme. Responding to their representation, the Collector instructed the Superintending Engineer of Rural Water Supply department to drill a borewell immediately in the colony and to supply the drinking water through a private tanker till the borewell becomes operational.