Nayagarh: Tension ran high at Sadar block office after hundreds of locals Saturday picketed the BDO office for hours over water woes at Laxmiprasad and Badapandusar panchayats under this block in Nayagarh district.
BDO Dayanidhi Satapathy had a tough time trying to pacify angry villagers. Demanding an immediate solution to the problem, the villagers gheraoed the BDO for more than an hour.
The agitation was called off after the BDO assured to take steps within a week after talks with the junior engineer.
Thousands of families from 11 villages reside in Laxmiprasad and Badapandusar panchayats. However, the water woes in both the panchayats have compounded the problems of the villagers.
While the panchayats have four pump houses, two of them work while another two are lying defunct for years. This makes it hard for the residents to avail water during summer.
On several instances, the residents of 11 villages including Barbati, Dihagaon, Godisahi, Bodapada, Mahendrapur, Pathuripada, Sunanati, Ramchandrapur, Badapandusar, Sanapandusar, Sarpada and Barpali tried to bring the attention of the district administration to their problem. However, no official paid heed to their pleas.
Earlier, they had submitted a written memorandum with the BDO and the district collector, but to no avail.
After their pleas went unaddressed, the villagers led by local sarpanch Jagannath Sethy held a rally and picketed the block office Saturday. When contacted, BDO Satapathy said steps were being taken to fix water crisis within a week. PNN