Hundreds of people from six villages thronged the Collectorate on Monday demanding resumption of drinking water supply to their villages.
Residents of Neelamalaikottai, Kariyagoundpatti, Kariyagoundpatti Pudhur, Kinathukadavu, Malayandipuram and Vannapatti thronged the Collectorate this morning condemning the erratic drinking water supply to their villages.
Earlier, the Neelamalaikottai village panchayat administration had been drawing water from a community open well sunk on the bed of PWD-controlled Sothal Naicken Kombai reservoir near Neelamalaikottai.
Suddenly, this well got completely dried up not because of absence of rain but due to unauthorised sinking of more than seven open bore wells by private parties near the dam, said S. Chinnasamy of Neelamalaikottai.
Encroachments
Moreover, catchments of the reservoir and rainwater supply sources – Thundikkal Odai, Sengalvarai, Mozhukuthuprai streams, Vazhaikodai and other forests streams passing through Karuppanasamy temple and Neelamalaiyandi temple at Pondupuli – were either encroached or destroyed.
With destruction of all water sources, rainwater did not reach the reservoir.
Now all these villages were reeling under acute water crisis. Moreover, local bigwigs including a retired police official and local party functionaries had encroached upon 36 acres of Kombai dam, he also alleged.
The villagers appealed to the authorities to remove encroachments in the dam, its catchments and supply channels and rehabilitate the reservoir to recharge groundwater and open wells within the panchayat and solve the drinking water crisis.
With empty pots, hundreds of residents of Valayapatti village too thronged the Collectorate demanding resumption of drinking water supply.
Later, the police prevented them at the entrance and allowed five representatives to hand over the petition to the Collector.