Fed up with the irregular and inadequate water supply in their villages, residents of three villages under Uppina Betageri Gram Panchayat staged a protest in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Dharwad on Monday.
The protestors, most of them women, carried empty plastic pots to the Deputy Commissioner’s office to register their protest against irregular water supply.
The three villages under Uppina Betageri Gram Panchayat have a population of around 20,000.
The residents said that while the demand for water for these three villages was around nine lakh litres per day, only around four lakh litres, which was less than 50% of the demand, was being supplied.
This apart, the drinking water supply was irregular and and the villagers are forced to create additional storage facilities to store water for 15 days. And, the water pipelines laid three decades ago were leaking at several points and water was getting contaminated, they said.
The protestors complained that on several occasions, water with worms was supplied to the villages which resulted in several falling sick on different occasions.
They also said that despite bringing the matter to the notice of the elected representatives and local MLA, the issue remained unresolved.
The protestors then submitted a memorandum urging the district administration to look into the issue immediately, take remedial measure and also take steps to lay a new pipeline to supply drinking water to the three villages.