PERAMBALUR: Mentioning a public library set up in their village in 2009 as having been operational only for around a year before closing down for want of maintenance, residents of Peelvadi at Sithali panchayat in Veppur block of the district demand the authorities concerned to heed to their petitions and reopen the building at the earliest.
They also point to a reverse osmosis (RO) water plant in their village installed in February 2023 becoming off-limits over a similar issue and seek measures to have the purification unit restored as well for public use. A Asaithambi, a resident, said, "We used the library through the day to read books and newspapers.
With the building currently locked, the books are covered in dust and are wasted. Books were also recently purchased for the library but we do not understand what the use is." It is said that maintenance work was also carried out at the library. The collector must hence inspect the matter, he added.
As for the RO plant, which locals say was set up at the same cost as that of the library i.e. about Rs 8 lakh, they pointed out that it used to provide purified potable water to residents at Rs 5 per vessel. S Sudhakar, another resident, said, "The potable water supply by the panchayat (via street taps) is not enough. We used to collect water from the RO unit as well.
There has been no supply through it for the past two months as a result of which we have been buying water cans. It is a waste of public money." When contacted, Veppur Block Development Officer R Selvakumar told TNIE, "The library is functioning. We recently bought books (worth around `10,000) for the library through the panchayat.” He assured to look into the issues, including the non-functional RO unit.