Activists of the Social Unity Centre of India (SUCI) staged a demonstration at Hinkal on Friday to draw the attention of the authorities to the drinking water scarcity in the Hinkal Gram Panchayat limits.
Nearly 35,000 people live in the Hinkal Gram Panchayat limits and it lacked permanent drinking water facility though it was on the outskirts of Mysuru city.
The activists, led by SUCI leader M. Umadevi, said the problem stemmed from lack of adequate linkages to ensure proper and equitable distribution of water being supplied to Mysuru which receives water from both the Kabini and the Cauvery.
Villages falling under Hinkal Gram Panchayat limits require atleast 3 million litres of water per day at the rate of 85 Litres Per Capita Daily and urged the government to fulfil the basic demands of the people of the region. There are 28 borewells in the vicinity, but 25 of them have dried up and has accentuated the water scarcity, according to SUCI.
It also took exception to the information provided by the officials at a review meeting held in Mysuru recently where it was announced that ‘there was no drinking water scarcity in Mysuru’. The SUCI alleged that it was a false information provided to higher authorities and demanded the multi-village drinking water scheme exclusively for Hinkal to cope with the recurring crisis.