SAMBALPUR: Tensions erupted at Canal Pada under Talab panchayat within Sason police limits here after two liquor traders reportedly contaminated drinking water sources on Monday night.
Villagers said two local liquor traders carried out the act in retaliation against the opposition to their illegal trade. “The duo harboured a grudge after villagers repeatedly objected to their activities. They poured some poisonous substance into a village well and tube well. The liquor traders also sprayed the substance in backyard gardens of several houses,” they alleged.
The situation escalated when alert villagers reportedly caught the accused in the act and assaulted them on the spot. Following the incident, villagers approached the Sambalpur collector, seeking immediate intervention and alternative drinking water arrangements.
Collector Siddeshwar Baliram Bondar said, “A team from Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (RWSS) department has been sent to the village collect water samples. Arrangements for safe drinking water are being made. Appropriate action will follow based on the test reports.”
On Tuesday, the RWSS team collected water samples from the village. The samples will be sent to Bhubaneswar for a detailed analysis. As an interim relief measure, a water tanker was deployed to supply potable water to affected villagers. Official sources said preliminary observations suggest the possibility of pesticide contamination.
Talab sarpanch Bishnu Pradhan said tensions between villagers and the traders had been brewing for months. A major dispute had erupted earlier, following which the two traders had promised to stop selling liquor.
“However, they resumed their operations recently. Facing renewed opposition, they poisoned the sources of water. On Monday night, villagers detected a chemical odour and later found froth in the water sources before catching the duo in the act,” he claimed.
However, villagers are yet to file a complaint against the two accused in the local police station.