TIRUPPUR: The residents of tribal settlements in Udumalaipet taluk are facing acute water shortage as almost all water sources dried up due to the scorching heat. Speaking to TNIE, Mavadapu tribal settlement forest right head K Kuppuswamy said, “All 150 families in Mavadappu settlements have been facing severe water scarcity for the past two months.
Last year, the forest department laid the pipelines from perennial water sources. But the lines are damaged now and this has added to our woes. Locals are forced to walk for more than 3 kilometres to fetch water.”
Murugan from Kuzhipatti tribal settlement said, “Earlier the tanks connected to perennial water sources used to get filled every day. However, for the past two months, the water has been filled just once in 15 days. People from the settlement are forced to walk 2-3 kilometres to the Poochikuttamparai settlement for water.”
He added that the officials are not responding to the request to set up a tank with a capacity of 10,000 litres in the area to solve the water issue. N Manikandan from Thirumoorthy Hill settlement said, “There are 120 families in our settlement and this is the first time we are facing such a huge scarcity of water in our settlement. The piped water from Dhali Municipality is unfit for consumption. The water from sources above the Panchalingam Falls in Thirumoorthi hills has dried up. Also, there isn’t any Over Hand Tank (OHT) in our settlement.”
An official from the Forest Department (Udumalaipet Division) said, “Many tribal settlements are reeling under water scarcity. Though we have piped water connections reaching several settlements from perennial sources from hills, most of them are damaged due to rain and other natural causes. We will be deputing a team of officials along with plumpers to inspect the locations and repair them. We believe this could resolve the issue to some extent.”