CHENNAI: The drought-like situation that has gripped the State has taken a toll on every soul. The potters and farmers of Kattur in Tiruvallur district are no different.
Over the past two months, the Udayar community people have been forced to work in brick kilns for meagre wages. Reason: their traditional work is no longer sustainable due to the drought. While people who have open wells get water at 80-100 feet in Minjur and surrounding villages, those who use borewell are completely depended on the panchayat water. However, it comes once a week.
Bharathi (47) of Kattur earned his livelihood by making clay pots which sold for Rs 200. He used to sell about 40 pots per month but now he is earning Rs 100 a day in a brick kiln. “Even in the kilns, they only call us when they need. Otherwise, we stay idle,’’ he said. About 500 acres of farmlands across Voyalur, Thiruvellavoyal and Kattur in Minjur taluk have become parched. The Kattur lake, the main source of water, has gone dry. ‘’The panchayat water comes once a week, that too for thirty minutes,’’ says 55-year-old Manickam S of Kattur. The locals say the water comes in odd times without prior information. ‘’They supply water at 11 pm and in 30 minutes, how many people can get water?’’ questions Manickam.
Sumathi M (49) of Thiruvellavoyal says she has to walk half-a-km for water. ‘’There are four panchayat taps for our village but only one works. We make multiple trips carrying four or five pots on our hips. We sustain it for one week as water comes only once a week,” she says. The Thiruvellavoyal lake too has gone dry, she added.
The villagers say groundwater is salty and they depend on panchayat water for drinking. However, since it is irregular and insufficient, they buy water cans for Rs 20.
Even government schools and hospitals are facing the brunt. ‘’About 200-300 patients come from a 50-km radius to Kattur GH everyday and we are short of at least 3,000 litres of water. The Panchayat water is irregular and we use groundwater, which is salty and sometimes yellow in colour,’’ said a hospital staff.
Three km from Kattur is Kadapakkam. Here, there are no water pumps nor tanks to preserve water.
“More than 140 families live here and each only gets two or three pots of water twice a week,’’ said Manian C (29). ‘’It has been three months since the lakes have gone dry and there has been no agriculture since then. People who can find jobs move, others remain idle and stay here,’’ he added.
Even villages that have never faced a water crisis are now bearing the brunt. Residents of Vichoor and Manali New Town in North Chennai say there was no dearth of water in their villages. ‘’The level has gone down to 60 feet from 20 feet. Panchayat water has become erratic and is sour,’’ says Shanthi S, a brick kiln labourer in Vichoor.
In Vichoor, there have been several protests to stop the extraction of water by private water tankers. ‘’The water from the area should be for its residents first but the tankers exploit the resources and sell it for high prices,’’ claims Shanthi.