BERHAMPUR: For 500 families of Sirtiguda village under Kanjamendi-Nuagaon block of Kandhamal district, water woes mount as soon as summer sets in.
The village has four tubewells but two of them are lying defunct since long and despite repeated appeals by the villagers, no steps have been taken to repair them. The other two tubewells on which people depend too have started developing snags.
The village also has more than 10 open wells but the water level has receded in all of them. For bathing and other purposes, villagers depend on a reservoir on the outskirts of the village but that too has been drying up.
In 2014, the RWSS set up a piped water supply project in the village. An overhead tank was constructed and pipelines laid for standposts. However, water supply from these facilities has been irregular.
Villagers said that although a Junior Engineer stationed at K Nuagaon looks after the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation project, they have not been able to meet him yet and apprise him of the water problem.
Demanding regular supply of water for the RWSS project, the villagers had met BDO BJ Dalei in February. He had assured them to address the issue within a month, but that has not been the case.
Villagers have now urged Collector Yamini Sarangi for help.