NHs blocked at 3 places over drinking water scarcity

Phulbani: Scarcity of drinking water has forced the people to hit the roads in several areas of the state on Wednesday. Irate locals staged road blockades on several national highways demanding provision of clean drinking water.

Vehicular movement on the Ranchi-Vijayawada national highway came to a grinding halt on Wednesday as villagers of Tilakapada and Kaladi under Gudari panchayat staged a road-blockade by placing water containers on the national highway at Tilakapada square
demanding provision of drinking water in the area.

The scarcity of drinking water in the area has turned acute after the two tube wells installed in the village went out of order and all other sources of water like pond and, well dried up in the scorching summer, said a local.

Even though the villagers of the area had informed the departmental authorities about their plight, they are yet to take any step, he added.

However, the villagers withdrew their stir after police and RWSS assistant engineer rushed to the spot and assured them of installing new bore wells in their villages.

NH-251 at Dhenkikote in Keonjhar and NH-55 at Maneswar Chhak in Sambalpur were also blocked by the locals over drinking water scarcity today.