KRISHNAGIRI: Despite assurance by officials, the Irula tribal hamlet near Bargur is yet to get a water connection.
After TNIE highlighted the plight of the people on August 24, Bargur BDOs M Subramani and A Venkatraman Ganesh (village panchayat) inspected the village and assured the people to solve the water crisis, but no steps have been taken so far. A week after that, a water tanker was arranged for the villagers by the BDO for a day and the village is yet to get a pipeline connection.
D Ponni (39), a villager, said, “We depend on a nearby crusher unit for water, who give us permission to take four pots of water two times in a week. Thus, we were unable to even take bath regularly. Now, we depend on a small well-like structure near our village, which has filled due to recent downpours. But it will become dry in a month.”
Another villager S Devi (31) said, “Apart from the water issues, the village also has no proper road and many houses are also damaged. But, we are only asking the authorities to solve the water shortage issue as of now, which shouldn’t be such a big deal for them.”
S Kanaga (50), another villager, said, “We have taken this issue to the panchayat and revenue authorities many times, but no steps have been taken so far. Also, the crusher unit will stop providing water to us during summer season and we hope that this issue will be solved by that time.”
Bargur BDO M Subramani and Additional Collector of District Rural Development Agency Vandana Garg were unavailable for comment. Collector Dr V Jaya Chandra Bhanu Reddy told TNIE that he would look into the issue.