THOOTHUKUDI: A group of people belonging to Backward Class (BC) communities expressed their opposition to supply water from the Mela Arasadi tank to Puliamarathu Arasadi village. The residents of Mela Arasadi panchayat objected to the move, allegedly over caste discrimination. The incident led to a commotion in the village, inviting police intervention.
The Mela Arasadi panchayat comprises seven villages including Puliamarathu Arasadi, which is mainly populated by members of SC communities. The panchayat authorities had dug borewells near the panchayat tank in Arasadi village, and laid pipelines to supply water to the nearby Puliamarathu Arasadi village.
On Friday, when the workers installed electric motors to supply water to the Puliamarathu, BC residents of Mela Arasadi strongly objected to the drawing of water from the borewells. They further urged the workers to draw water from Thupaspatti village (of another panchayat) for supplying water to Puliamarathu Arasadi residents.
Speaking to TNIE, Mela Arasadi Panchayat president Rohini Raj said the borewell and pipeline extension works for Puliamarathadi was carried out as per a resolution passed in 2021-22. The works were started after prior inspection by Ottapidaram union officials, and work order was also issued by the collector. However, the police, instead of providing security to implement the order, stopped the works forthwith, she said.
During a peace meeting organised at the Ottapidaram taluk office, the people of Puliamarathu Arasadi claimed that they have been facing water scarcity for many years, but are not allowed to draw water from the panchayat borewell. They termed the act discriminatory and demanded action against those refusing them water under the SC/ST Act, before walking out of the meeting. However, the Mela Arasadi public denied their claims, and said they would get affected during drought if water is supplied to Puliamarathu Arasadi village from the bore well.
Meanwhile, Ottapidaram Tahsildar Anand told TNIE that the peace meeting failed to make any headway as both parties were reluctant to reach a compromise. A team under the block development officer will be deployed to ascertain the situation in detail, he added.