Women stage protest at Collectorate in Masula

Irked over the failure of the officials to ensure supply of safe drinking water to their panchayat for over a decade, womenfolk of Mallavolu in Krishna district on Monday thronged the Collectorate with empty pots, demanding action on a war footing. About 70 women participated in the protest on the premises.

“Water is being supplied barely thrice a month from a local tank which becomes full only after the water drawn from the lone bore well reaches it, 13 others in our panchayat are not functioning. We are forced to fetch water from an agriculture bore well, which about 2 km from our hamlet,” S. Vijaya Lakshmi of Kummaripalem told The Hindu.

According to the residents of Chataripalem, Harijanawada and Kummaripalem, at least 13 bore wells sunk by the government have become non-functional, and the nine-acre pond under the Rural Water Supply scheme was abandoned a decade ago.

The problem went to the notice of Collector B. Lakshmikantam only after the women undertook the march. He immediately deputed a team of officials which rushed to the panchayat only to be greeted by protests.