MADURAI: Over 100 residents of six villages under the north taluk have alleged that water has been indiscriminately pumped out of their area every day for the last one year. They have sought action against the same in a petition submitted to the district collector on Monday.
Claiming that the pumping of water has not only impacted the groundwater level in their area, but also affected their agricultural livelihoods, villagers of Eraniyam, Eluppakudi, Sundararajan Patti, Arumbanur, Thiruvilanpatti, and Vasanthababu Nagar jointly petitioned to District Collector M S Sangeetha.
In their petition, they have alleged that 10 lakh litres of water is pumped out by 10 tankers every day. The activity, they said, caters to commercial purposes and is unauthorised. While several complaints were raised, the locals added, no action was taken.
Both humans and animals are bearing the brunt of the drop in groundwater levels, the villagers added, and requested the collector to look into the matter and put a stop to it.