Miliara, a nondescript tribal dominated village in Gumma block of Gajapati, wears a deserted look.
Home to 62 families, many of them have shifted to other parts of the State to escape the cruel summer. And those who have stayed back are having to struggle with water crisis, the biggest problem in the village.
Villagers here earn their livelihood from tamarind and cashewnut plantation. But no the yield has been very poor in the absence of irrigation for the last two years.
With their source of livelihood affected seriously and basic amenities including drinking water eluding them, the villagers migrate during summer and return with the onset of monsoon.
The village has not witnessed any development despite the fact that it is hardly a few kms from Gumma block headquarters.
Jasi Bhuyan, Sarpanch of the village, said safe drinking water is a dream. After repeated appeals, the administration sunk three tubewells, but only one of them is functional now. The lone tubewell gives out water which is high in iron content. “We use this water for daily ablutions and cooking while women fetch drinking water from a stream which is 2 km away,” he said. Though people of the village have appealed to the officials concerned to address the water crisis, nothing substantial has been done.
A villager, Nabaya Gomang, said fetching the water daily is an uphill task for the women. “The day is not far when the village will turn into a no man’s land,” he said.
Officials in the block office said proposals have been prepared for digging up a pond near the village under MGNREGS and steps will be taken to repair the tubewells soon.