Kadaladi residents pay ₹ 20 per pot for drinking water, seek help from district administration

With the summer having set in on a strong pitch, many residents of Poolangulam near Kadaladi in Ramanathapuram district claimed that they bought drinking water supplied in trucks for ₹ 20 per pot or even more here on Monday.

With the summer having set in on a strong pitch, many residents of Poolangulam near Kadaladi in Ramanathapuram district claimed that they bought drinking water supplied in trucks for ₹ 20 per pot or even more here on Monday.

A large number of women and elderly citizens from the village submitted a petition addressed to the Collector at the weekly grievance meeting in the Collectorate.

Speaking to reporters, the petitioners said that for the last one year, the Cauvery drinking water scheme had not been functioning. As a result, distribution of potable water through taps to tail end habitations such as Poolangulam had stopped. When checked, authorities in the panchayat office said that they were under maintenance and beyond that there was no response.

A woman from the village who gave her name as Janaki said that she paid ₹ 20 per pot for water supplied through lorry by a private person. She claimed that most of the residents in the hamlet were daily wage earners. Paying ₹ 20 per pot was taxing. Some families trekked for about two kilometres and drew water from the ‘Oorani” or spring water, which was not advisable for drinking.

Many of the women said that the district administration should supply water once in three days to the hamlets which had no source at all. The private lorries charged exorbitant sums utilising the bone-dry pockets.

CPI former MLA and Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam State president Gunasekaran, who led a team of farmers, said that the government should declare Ramanathapuram as drought-hit district and expedite the process to disburse the compensation claims to the farmers.