RAMANATHAPURAM: Towels wrapped around their heads to shield themselves from the scorcher above, a few women scoop water from a hole in the ground using a ladle made out of dried coconut kernel. Though a taxing process – the women have to wait for hours for the sand to settle down before scooping water – there is little they can do. Drinking water scarcity in Sevoor village near Ramanathapuram has assumed menacing proportions. And it is not summer yet.
Around 20-km from Ramanathapuram, Sevoor seems like a village left out of the march to progress. Women travel around one kilometre to reach Vaigai river to scoop water from holes on its banks.
The situation remains the same throughout the year, with the occasional respite coming whenever a Reverse Osmosis plant in the village comes alive. Women walking along the roads with pots on heads or pushing pot-filled carts is a normal sight on the stretch.
While a reverse osmosis plant was established in the village to meet the potable water requirement, the villagers claim that it is intermittently out of order. Moreover, whenever it functions, the villagers have to shell out `5 per pot to get water. With water costing dear and becoming rare, the onus of fetching it falls on the women.
R Indira, a resident of Sevoor, tells Express that she has been waiting for about two hours to scoop water from the hole manually dug a week ago by some women after hours of hardwork.
“I need at least five pots to meet the drinking water requirement of my house for two days. As my husband is a daily wage labourer, I do not disturb him during the day. However, if need arises, he will accompany me here in the night,” she adds.
The situation, though grim, is better than previous years. The reason is that release from Vaigai has recharged the groundwater table. Now, they do not have to dig deep to hit water.
C Kavitha, another resident, says that the water holes on the river bank are crowded throughout the day. “I prefer coming in the night. My husband brings a kerosene lamp. Once we reach the spot, he lies down on the sand to sleep while I scoop water. Since we received Vaigai water this year, water is only a shallow dig away. However, there are fears that a situation would arise, like in the past, and we would have to trek to far-off places to get water once summer bares its fangs,” says Kavitha, who is accompanied by her four-year-old daughter Karnika.
The women would not have to trek or dig holes at ungodly hours if the government gives water connection to the hamlet, says P Chandran, a resident.
“Not every household needs to be connected. One connection per street would suffice,” he says, adding that the government had constructed seven water tanks on the riverbank for the villagers to take bath. However, motors were removed from five of them.
Collector S Natarajan and Assistant Director (Panchayats) A Chelladurai told Express that efforts were on to ensure villagers’ water needs were addressed.
“We will replace the substandard motor installed by the local panchayat with a branded one at the reverse osmosis plant within five days. We will ensure that the panchayat collects only `2 per water pot,” the official said, adding that there was another issue, which was not being highlighted.
“People are reluctant to fetch water from the plant. This despite our awareness programmes. People should change their outlook towards the plant,” Chelladurai added.