Construction of new overhead water tank begins at Vengaivayal

PUDUKKOTTAI: Weeks after excrement was found dumped in the overhead tank (OHT) at Vengaivayal, the district administration has kicked off work to set up a new one and provide piped water supply for the villagers at a cost of Rs 9 lakh.

Following inspection of the water contamination in the village, Minister Siva V Meyyanathan announced a new overhead tank for the residents who hail from the SC community. A rural development department official said, “We have started work on setting up the OHT worth Rs 7 lakh and the pipelines worth Rs 2 lakh. We have also set up a tailoring workshop inviting the women residents in Vengaivayal and nearby villages in a bid to bring people of different castes together.”

Sources from the district administration said work is also under way for a Rs 33-lakh pathway to the burial ground in the village. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front (TNUEF) president Samuel Raj said, “We oppose the idea of building a separate OHT. Why should members of the SC community have a separate OHT? Let there be a common OHT for the panchayat and water can be supplied from it through pipelines to all residents in the panchayat.”

“We also urge the government to sanction relief aid to all members of the SC community, including children, by using the special provisions of the SC/ST PoA Act,” he added. Earlier, the body and parties like the CPM, the CPI-ML and Bahujan Samaj Party staged protests at different parts of the district demanding arrest of those behind the contamination of the water tank at Vengaivayal.