Jajpur: Residents of hilltop Balarampur village under Dharmasala block in this district are reeling under severe water scarcity and collecting water from a pit in the absence of drinking water facilities.
The villagers have been put to untold sufferings as the administration has failed to stand by its promise of supplying water through tanker. RWSS officials visited the village a week back and assured to supply drinking water through tankers but the promise is yet to be fulfilled, alleged villagers Shrutiranjan Dhir, Subhrajit Dhir and Ajay Kumar Dhir while talking to this correspondent.
This has triggered resentment among villagers as over 60 families are toiling hard to get a bucketful of water. The villagers have dug out a pit in a dried up pond and are using the water for drinking and other purposes.
This has happened despite the RWSS claiming to have spent Rs 16 crore to supply water through pipes to the villages in the district. Similarly, the department claims to have spent over Rs 17 crore in installation of tube-wells.
The situation in the village has become more acute due to the summer season.
The only tube-well in the village pours out less water while the villagers had to use water from a pit dug out in the middle of pond and the polluted water of an open well. PNN
