To many the very mention of Krishna district brings the picturisque images of Krishna river and scarcity of drinking water might seem to be a myth. But a visit to the villages near the Kolleru lake shows the stark reality that even a district like Krishna has villages where people are forced to travel for distances as long as 5 km to fetch a pot of drinking water, not to mention crossing the Upputeru rivulet and carry water from the neighbouring West Godavari district.
There are about 20,000 people in 18 hamlets in Pandiripalligudem, Gummalapadu, Srungavarappadu villages on Kolleru lake bed and Penchikalamarru, Kottada, Alapadu, Pallevada in the surrounding areas in Kaikaluru mandal in Krishna district. Everyday a group of villagers cross the Upputeru in a boat and travel on bicycles or autorickshaws from there for about 5 km to fetch drinking water.
B Yesu, a fisherman at Kottada village, says that residents of his villages cross the Upputeru to get drinking water from Dumpagadapa and Siddapuram villages in Akividu mandal in West Godavari district. It is a regular practice for villagers to go to Dumpagadapa and Siddapuram villages to bring drinking water as they have no choice. The nearby village in Krishna district is about 20 km away from these hamlets, while villages in West Godavari are only 5 km after crossing the rivulet.
“Each family has to pay an amount of Rs 400 per year to the boatman to transport them from this side to the other side of the stream. We have to either get water from the public taps or request locals to donate some water after they fill their vessels,” Yesu says. Each family spends anywhere between Rs 2,000 and Rs 4,000 on fetching water.
The drinking water problem is severe during the summer as the formation of hyacinth in the stream makes it difficult for the boatmen to guide their boats in the water.
KY Raju of Gummalapadu alleges that rural water supply (RWS) department officials have never bothered to provide drinking water facilities to these villages. “They should be tied to the trees and made to stand under the blazing sun. They never visited our area to resolve the problem,” he fumes. Though the issue had been brought to the notice of the district collector during the Prajavani programme a few months ago, nothing has been done.
According to sources, a Comprehensive Public Protected Water (CPPW) project was taken up with Rs 2.40 crore in Penchikalamarru village to provide drinking water to the Kolleru bed and belt villages during the TDP regime. But it did not help much as there were many fish ponds around the three drinking water ponds that were dug up under the CPPW project. Reverse osmosis (RO) filters were also set up in Srungavarappadu and Pandiripalligudem villages to provide purified drinking water to these villages. They are also not working properly.
Villagers are requesting the government to make alternative arrangements for supplying drinking water failing which it would not be long when people living in the Kolleru bed will die for want of water. They fear that if similar situation arises in the neighbouring villages in West Godavari, they will have to desert their villages or die for want of water.