t least one member of each family in Pamur of Prakasam district goes out in pursuit of water everyday, as it has become a scarce commodity, thanks to the severe drought for the sixth year in succession.
The acute water shortage has accentuated fluoride problem in 59 villages in 25 panchayats, where at least two members from each family suffer from health hazards like dental fluorosis, skeletal fluorisis and renal failure. “We are finding it hard even to meet our drinking needs, leave alone cultivating crops this year owing to the prolonged dry spell, as the Mopadu reservoir has gone bone dry,” laments G. Jayaraju, a farmer.
The four borewells in the village had dried up, says another villager K. Malyadri while waiting to collect a few pots of water from a public tap in Mopadu bunglow, after treking a distance of 1 km from the ST Colony.
“We have to walk up to one-and-a-half kilometres to collect drinking water, crossing the rivulet,” complains 55-year-old Anjamma from the nearby Bodavada village even as seeking an Reverse Osmosis plant in the colony.
At least two members from each family suffer from health problems and spend up to Rs. 4,000 for dialysis at Ongole or Guntur, says Y. Malakondaiah, a villager. “Owing to erratic power supply, we are forced to wait for long hours to get water,” adds Nagalakshmi, while waiting for her turn for water at Lakshmipuram, where the overhead tank constructed by the government is in disuse. “In such a situation, we are forced to depend on private suppliers for drinking water by spending around Rs. 500 a month,” says Nageswara Rao, another villager. “Most of the nine RO plants in the mandal have become defunct, thanks to drying up of borewells and no repairs to electric motors,” says CPI(M) Pamuru secretary Sd. Hanif.
The government should ensure Krishna water from Nagarjunasagar to all uncovered villages in mandals like Gummalapadu and Daddereddypalle and repair leaking pipelines to find a permanent solution to the drinking water problem, he adds.
We have to walk up to one-and-a-half kilometres to collect drinking water, crossing the rivulet
- Anjamma, a native of Bodavada
