DHARMAPURI: Residents of Venkatampatti village in the Mathemangalam Panchayat staged a protest on Friday morning over the lack of drinking water supply for over two months due to the ongoing road construction. The protestors blocked the Dharmapuri-Mittareddihalli road, disrupting traffic for over two hours.
The protesters flayed the Nallampalli Block Development Office (BDO) for failing to provide clean drinking water for the past two months.
They demanded that the Dharmapuri district administration take steps to repair the pipeline, which was disconnected during the expansion works of the Dharmapuri-Mittareddihalli road and to immediately ensure water supply to the village under the Hogenakkal Integrated Drinking Water Project.
Speaking to TNIE, B Senthil from Venkatampatti said, "Two months ago, the State Highways Department began the expansion of the Dharmapuri-Mittareddihalli road. As the work progressed, the water connection to the residences was disconnected, leaving over 300 households now without water supply. However, we managed using local sources.
Now, with the local water sources also declining, we have no other alternative. We had appealed to the Nallampalli BDO office several times, stressing the issue, but were ignored. So we staged a protest."
K Suivagami from the village said the protest was held also for demanding clean drinking water under the Hogenakkal drinking water scheme.
"Nearly six months ago, the BDO provided household tap connections under the Jal Jeevan Mission but it broke two months ago. But the water supply issues had persisted long before this.
Now our village does not receive water from the Hogenakkal drinking water scheme. The water supplied by the Mathemangalam Panchayat has fluoride."
Officials in the BDO were not reachable when TNIE tried to contact.
Project Director of the DRDA, J Reuben Shankar Raj, said, "Immediate efforts are underway to ensure water supply."