Khariar: With summer having set in, people of Chicher village under Khariar block of Nuapapda district are facing water crisis.
One of two tube wells in the village has gone defunct while the tube well that works now is delivering fluoride mixed water which is dangerous to health, local lamented.
Besides, a drinking water project built at a cost of Rs 16 lakh is out of order, a report said. Amid the water crisis, people are bound to collect contaminated water from pits, two km from the village.
Villagers alleged that the purpose for which the drinking water project was set up at Tuligan in 2016-17 has failed and Rs 16 lakh has gone down the drain.
The locals said that due to faulty survey by the PH Department in site selection, the drinking water project was left in mess. Water is not reaching the stand posts at Cherigaon, Hernapada and Bagpada.
As mercury is rising, water sources are going dry. Water crisis has been deepening, they rued. Chicher village, its two nearby hamlets like Hernapada and Bagpada have a population of 3000.
Villagers had taken up the issue with the local sarpanch and a junior engineer of the PHD, no step was taken to set the drinking water project right. JE, Robert Pradhan said steps will be taken soon.
PNN