Nabarangpur: Ahead of the panchayat elections, people of Sandaibhata village in Nabarangpur sadar block staged protests over the issue of drinking water, Saturday.
According to reports, Sandaibhata village is just 1 km from the district headquarters. The village is on the banks of Indrabi river.
“Our village is near Indrabi river and close to the district headquarters. Over years, we have no safe drinking water. We have been left to suffer without water. We have staged agitations in the past. Every time, the administration promises to sort out the issue, but nothing is done in reality,” locals fumed.
They pointed out that during elections, leaders come to the village with promise of solving the drinking water problem, but they forget the issue later. Upset over the problem, the villagers submitted a memorandum to ADM Bhaskar Raito Saturday, seeking to redress the problem.
Villagers say they and their local people’s representatives have been exhausted from frequenting the RWSS office for provision of piped supply of drinking water.
The RWSS is doing nothing while the government spends crores of rupees in rural areas for safe drinking water. In 2019, the villagers had also blocked NH-26 over the issue. The administration had promised to make provision of drinking water.
“Muddy water is available from tube wells in the village. The water is not fit for drinking. We will again block NH-16 for drinking water,” they warned.
PNN
