ARIYALUR: The village of Ambapur at Kavanur panchayat in the district is home to over a hundred families, but their complaints over lack of potable water supply, roads and lighting facility in the streets have reportedly gone unheeded, and for years together at that.
While pointing to the village’s potable water supply to be from an overhead tank, J Mahendran, a resident, said, “For the past six years, the water supply has been salty. The tank lay without proper cleaning for several months. Sometimes, it is mixed with dust and has algal growth. We cannot use it for drinking.”
With an unbearable stench to add, villagers are forced to commute almost two kilometres to fetch water from wells and waterbodies or spend from their pockets for the commodity, Mahendran said.
Taking up the issue of ill-maintained roads, another resident, A Sankar, said they are ridden with potholes, making it difficult for them to ride through them. E Sathish, another resident, brought the issue of street lighting into spotlight.
“There are no street lights in our area. At night, children cannot even play on the road, as it becomes very dark, and various poisonous insects and snakes lurk around. We get scared of even visiting shops. At night we are forced to use the mobile phone as torchlight."
While several petitions were placed with the panchayat and Ariyalur BDO's offices, no action was, however, taken, Sathish added. The district administration should therefore inspect our village and take immediate action, he appealed.
When contacted, Ariyalur Block Development Officer G Akila told TNIE, "I learned of the issues and held inquiries. Some power poles in the area have no supply. After they provide it, we will take action to install street lights."
"As water available in the area is generally saline, we plan to set up an RO facility there. However, I will make sure to clean the tank there properly," she added.