Despite the implementation of the Odisha government’s much-touted Basudha Yojana, safe drinking water is still eluding people in several areas in the state.
The case in point is Udasingh Village under Nuagarh block in Gajapati district. Here, fed up with the alleged negligence of the administration despite repeated pleas, the villagers took it upon themselves to lay out pipes to get drinking water at the doorstep.
Udasingh village is inhabited by families belonging to 16 tribal communities. There is a tube well in the village which is no longer dispensing water. The villagers said it is lying defunct.
They had dug up a ‘chua’, a shallow pit, on the agricultural land and were collecting water from it. During this rainy season, its water has become not fit for consumption. To get a pitcher-full of drinking water, the women folks of the village would trek kilometres. They also took the matter up starting from the Panchayat administration to block administration but to no avail.
With no other option left, the villagers took it upon themselves and raised a fund. With the collected money, they bought pipes and placed them in a stream located in a forested area in such a way that they can collect water at a place near their village.
“We are facing a lot of problems as we don’t have a drinking water facility in our village. Consumption of dirty water resulted in our children suffering from cold, cough and fever. Our requests for drinking water facilities are falling on deaf ears of the administration. Now we have laid out pipes from our own pockets and collecting water from a stream,” said a female resident.
“We had taken the matter up with the Panchayat office. The officials visited our village to see our problem. But they didn’t do anything. We request them to take an early step to mitigate our problem," said another resident.
The reaction of the administration on the allegations of the villagers could not be obtained.