Rourkela: Once summer sets in, most of the wells and tube-wells here dry up leaving slum-dwellers, who struggle for each drop of water, in the lurch.
However, the misery of the poor has turned out to be a boon for a group of people who have encroached upon government plots and drilled a number deep borewells to cash in on the opportunity.
Each household of about 20 slums in Gopabandhupali and Madhusudanpali pays up to Rs 500 a month to these ‘watermen’ to quench their thirst, a report said.
Though this has been going on under the nose of administration and in the knowledge of political leaders, most of them choose to keep quiet, it was learnt.
“We have no option but to pay. They stop supplying water unless we make payment regularly,” said a slum-dweller.
People who get exploited at the hands of these water sellers belong to Amarnath Basti, Vivekanandapalli Basti, Jharkhandi Basti, Chhattisgadi Basti, Yadav Basti, Indiranagar Basti, Rimjhim Basti and Rajiv Basti.
According to reports, nearly 30 deep borewells have been drilled on the government land surrounded by these slums and nearly 300 families depend on each borewell. Each borewell owner earns at least Rs 1.5 lakh a month in the summer season as they charge Rs 500 from a family.
Often they have to compromise with their other expenses to get water, said some residents. Though they have been getting exploited over the years, there are not many options left for them, said Punit Sahoo and Laxman Sahoo of Amarnath Basti.
On the other hand, the water-level has gone down drastically in the city making the tube-wells set up by PHD department defunct due to nonstop drawing of water from the deep borewells, observed locals.
For instance, a 70-year-old well in Amarnath Basti, on which scores of people used to depend, has dried up. The water-level in the well and tube-wells would increase if drawing of water from these illegally drilled borewells is stopped, felt some other residents.
PHD executive engineer Anup Kumar Patel said the department is helpless as there is no clear policy by the government over the issue.
The department is providing water through tankers to address the issue, he added. PNN