Drought, intense heat worsens drinking water shortage in several villages of Manapparai

Drought, intense heat worsens drinking water shortage in a number of villages of Manapparai Acute drinking water shortage has been noted in 40 to 50 villages in Manapparai region; residents they obtain insufficient quantity of drinking water under Cauvery combined scheme only once week.

Key points

• Villages such as Aniyapur, Sandhaipettai, Kuppanampatti, Kattayampatti, Veeramalaipalayam, Nallampillai, Udayarpatti, Balakulathupatti, and Veerappur were under the grip of acute shortage of drinking water.
• As sources indicate, drinking water scarcity was documented in at least 40 to 50 villages in Manapparai region.
• Intense summer has triggered an acute drinking water shortage for individuals of Manapparai, Vaiyampatti, and neighbouring villages in Tiruchi district.
• A number of villages of Manapparai, Vaiyampatti, and Marungapuri blocks witnessed drinking water shortage in summer.
• A senior official informed The Hindu that water yield at the source points of combined water schemes had come down as of the failure of monsoon.

Collecting potable water has become a daily battle for the residents of Manapparai and surrounding villages. Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO.

Manapparai is a rain shadow region in the district. While farmers largely depend on seasonal rainfall for the crops, they depend upon the Cauvery water for drinking. It is supplied under various combined water schemes. The region generally faces water crisis in summer.

Notably, a number of villages of Manapparai, Vaiyampatti, and Marungapuri blocks witnessed drinking water shortage in summer. The difficulty began to surface in February and intensified since after the onset of summer. Normally, the difficulty would ease a bit with the end of summer. But the continued spell of summer-like weather has worsened the water scarcity.

As sources indicate, drinking water scarcity was documented in at least 40 to 50 villages in Manapparai region. In Manapparai, the residents now obtain drinking water once in three or four days. The residents of a number of villages around Manapparai complain of erratic supply. They are supplied with water once a week. Since the supply was erratic, they depend on borewells and open wells for their daily needs. This too has become tough as the groundwater level has been sinking drastically due to the drought.

"We obtain Cauvery water once a week. It is supplied only for a few minutes. No one gets more than two pots of water. It is not sufficient even for a day's employ. Moreover, the supply is erratic and we do not know when water is supplied, " notes Nagaraj, a resident of Veerappur near Aniyapur.

Notably, a senior official informed The Hindu that water yield at the source points of combined water schemes had come down as of the failure of monsoon. The situation had to be largely maintained by tapping the local water resources. The authorities of the District Rural Development Agency had been given instruction to focus on drinking water supply. Intervention activities such as sinking extra borewells and augmenting water sources in villages had been undertaken where the matters had cropped up. Water supply would be the priority of authorities until the onset of northeast monsoon.

For now, drought, intense heat worsens drinking water shortage in several villages of Manapparai remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.