BALANGIR: Queuing up to collect water from the lone tube well has become a daily grind for residents of Bhalumunda village in Bangomunda block. With rise in temperature, the ponds and other water bodies near the village have dried up leaving its residents with no option but to bear with the long and agonising wait for water. Bhalumunda is not the only village grappling with the crisis in the district, where mercury has risen to more than 40 degree Celsius in the last few days. Residents of Chanadtora too are in dire straits. The village has three functional tube wells and the nearby water bodies have dried up.
Similar is the plight of people residing in urban areas of the district. Sources said with depletion in groundwater level, Bangomunda, Lathore, Sindhekela, Saintala, Muribahal, Agalpur, Gudvela and Titlagarh block are staring at an acute crisis which is set to get worse in the coming days. Drying up of rivers like Lanth, Arjuni, Rahul and Suktel has only made matters worse.
The water scarcity has also become a matter of concern for farmers. Jatin Kumar Patra of Belpada village said vegetable farmers are finding it hard to manage water for cultivating their farms. Executive Engineer, RWSS Saroj Kumar Satpathy said gram panchayats have been empowered to deal with water scarcity this year. However, situation in rural areas is being monitored by block and district level officials, who are responsible for providing technical support to village representatives for repair of tube-wells.