Nellore: A drinking water crisis is looming large over Madanapalle in Chittoor district, Sullurpeta in Nellore district and Giddalur and Ongole in Prakasam district. Giddalur is the worst hit; water is transported from 15 km away to Giddalur only once in three days, under the supervision of the Public Health Department. People are forced to buy water to satisfy their needs, as the water supplied by the civic body is insufficient.
In Ongole and Madanapalle, water is supplied on alternate days. In order to try and overcome the crisis, officials of the Public Health Department have been buying water from private sources in these districts. Ms Y. Lakshmi, a resident of Giddalur town, said that they were forced to buy water at a cost of Rs 30 per drum. She said that they had been purchasing water for the past month, since water supplied by the civic body was inadequate.
She added that in some areas municipal taps were just monuments. Mr Yerra Reddy said that he was spending Rs 800 for a tanker of 2,000 litres of water to meet their needs. T. Mohan, the Superintendent Engineer of Public Health and the Regional Officer in- charge of mitigating water problems in 23 urban local bodies in Nellore, Chittoor and Prakasam districts, said that the repeated failure of monsoons in the last five years in the Giddalur region had led to an unprecedented drop in groundwater levels.
He added that Giddalur was one of the few towns that had never had a water source. He said that the pipeline scheme sanctioned at a cost of Rs 5.5 crore, to tap the abundant groundwater reserves at a reservoir under construction at Gundlamotu, 20 km away from Giddalur, in the midst of Nallamala forest, would quench the thirst of the locals. He was confident that the project would be completed within 90 days, and said that tenders had already been invited.
In Madanapalle, Rs 14.50 crore has been sanctioned for the operation and maintenance of bores and water sources, apart from transportation by tankers. As of now, water is supplied on alternate days to 8 wards, and daily to the remaining 27 wards. In Sullurpeta of Nellore district, Rs 11.50 crore has been allotted by the Government of India under the Disaster Management Scheme, for the transport of water, and to pay for the operation and maintenance and hiring of water sources.
The Government has also allocated Rs 5.40 crore to Ongole town where water is supplied on alternate days from reserves in the summer storage tank to 31 wards. Similarly, water reserves in the summer storage tank are also used to cater to the needs of the residents of Markapuram, and Rs 6.40 crore has been made available for this purpose.
