Khaira: Over 800 villagers of Dighitentuli village of Dagarpada panchayat under this block in Balasore district have been deprived of piped drinking water for the past six months, according to a report.
Some pipe lines were damaged and water supply discontinued about six months back during maintenance of Aambahata canal on the left side of Salandi river.
With the five stand posts not producing water and the village not having sufficient tube wells, the villagers have been facing a tough time to get water.
Some villagers including Nirmal Padhi, Damodar Rout and Chintamani Panda alleged they had taken up the matter with the panchayat officials on several occasions, but to no avail.
A few others complained that even though they wanted to get individual pipe connections they were denied such facility.
The villagers said they are unable to lodge their complaints as the rural water supply and sanitation (RWSS) department office located at Bishnupur village under this block remains closed most of the time.
Many residents of the village including Ajay Rout, Madhusudan Rout, Mayadhar Rout, Maheswar Rout and Jogendra Das warned they would resort to agitation if immediate measures are not taken to fix the problem.
When contacted, sarpanch Basantilata Patra admitted that the pipes got damaged during canal work. Steps are being taken to repair the pipes, she said.
On the other hand, RWSS junior engineer Sushant Kumar Swain said he was not aware of the problem as the sapanch didn’t inform him.
PNN
