The water crisis in Chilukuru, a village with a population of 1,200 in Madhira mandal, abutting the inter-State border with Andhra Pradesh, has gone from bad to worse, forcing the villagers to dig pits on the dried-up bed of river Wyra and fetch a few pots of water to quench their thirst.
With several borewells going dry much ahead of peak summer and ‘assured’ drinking water supply under the Mission Bhagiratha water grid project still nowhere in sight, the villagers are scrambling for water even as temperatures continue to rise.
Pipeline leakage
Water scarcity has compounded following a disruption in supply from the overhead tank, which is part of the old drinking water scheme in the village, due to leakage of main pipeline, sources say.
“It has become an arduous task for us to traverse a distance of 1 km in the scorching sun to fetch one or two pots of water from the chelima (small pits) on the dried-up bed of Wyra river,” says Sangameshwara Rao, a villager of Chilukuru.
“We are compelled to depend on the age-old method of digging chelima on the banks of the river in this modern era,” he rued.
Mr Rao points out that the tail-end village has been deprived of assured drinking water supply despite repeated pleas to those at the helm of affairs.
“The much touted safe drinking water supply through taps under Mission Bhagiratha is yet to reach us. On an average, we are spending at least two to three hours daily to dig chelima and collect water from the dried-up bed of Wyra river, situated 1 km away from our village,” says Muralikrishna, a local youth, adding that the water travails are taking a toll on their health and farm operations.
Official’s promise
Murali, Assistant Engineer, Rural Water Supply and Sanitation, Madhira, says bulk water is being supplied to several parts of the Chilukuru gram panchayat under Mission Bhagiratha.
“Efforts are on to complete the intra-pipeline works expeditiously and make the water grid scheme fully operational in Chilukuru within 10 days,” Mr. Murali assures.