Gop: The residents of several panchayats under Gop block in Puri district have been facing severe dearth of drinking water for the past few days.
The villagers have raised the issue with their respective panchayat authorities but to no avail.
According to sources, villagers of Vedapur, Erabang and Gop panchayats have been facing difficulty in fetching drinking water for the past few days. According to the villagers, many tube-wells and wells in the locality have gone dry due to huge depletion of groundwater.
The villagers claimed the state government had launched drinking water projects in all these panchayats. But, the authorities concerned are yet to lay supply pipes to all villages and hamlets. Moreover, breach in the supply pipes and glitches at some stand posts have aggravated the water crisis.
“The potable water crisis is severe in Bhairipur, Vedapur Shasan, Balikandal, Tinitiar, Hantasura, Begunia, Balisahi and Mallick Sahi villages of Vedapur panchayat. We have raised the issue with the panchayat authorities and officials of Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (RWSS) department. But they are yet to resolve the issue,” rued a villager.
According to another, the state government had built a potable water project at Dakhineswar under Vedapur panchayat. But the project is yet to be made functional.
“The authorities have ignored the water crunch in Gop area. The situation may aggravate in the coming days. The district administration should look into the issue immediately and deploy tankers to supply potable water to the people,” said another villager.
RWSS department junior engineer Urbasi Acharya said the panchayat authorities have been instructed to ensure adequate drinking water for villagers in Gop area.
“We have received complaints about shortage of drinking water in a few pockets. We would soon deploy a few tankers to supply water to the villagers,” said Vedapur sarpanch Shankhalata Mishra.
