VELLORE: The residents of Gurumurthy Iyer Street in Saidapet of Vellore staged a protest on Sunday alleging that they have been experiencing water shortage for the past 22 days, due to a broken pipeline in the main supply system. Members from around 55 families, carrying empty water containers, gathered near Madeena Mosque in Saidapet and raised further concerns including blocked sewage lines, garbage dumping, and unavailability of a name board in the street.
The residents have been facing a severe water shortage which has resulted in difficulties in meeting their basic necessities. In an attempt to conserve water, they have been using it in limited amounts, but this has led to sewage blockage due to accumulation of solid waste in the lines.
One of the residents said, "In similar situations, we usually depend on tank water which is brought in an auto. But collecting water from the tanks in the vehicle is a laborious task. Our street has a dead end and highlighting difficulty in turning the auto, the supplier parks it in another corner from where we should walk with the containers. This arrangement too has been unavailable in the past week. Despite repeatedly asking for lorry water supply, no action has been taken, which ultimately led to the protest."
S Indrajith (48), another resident, said, "The street used to have two bore water setups. When the ruling party changed, the motors were taken away with a promise to bring them back soon. We have requested the counsellor to install a common bore well setup to address such unexpected water supply issues." He added, "We also want the officials to clear the dumped garbage at one corner of our street and install a name board. For the past few months, we have been mentioning the garbage pile as a reference point to find our street. Although the sanitation workers collect waste from every house, they neglect the pile."
The area counsellor said, "The issue has been addressed and proper water supply has been ensured to the residents." However, the residents claim they are currently being supplied with water through tankers which is not a permanent solution.