Borewell gives bad water and ill-health

Villagers struggle in multiple ways to get pure water

Residents of Kadarinatta village in the taluk are fighting health issues, which have arisen due to consumption of poor quality water from the village borewell.

The village, which comes under the administrative limits of Donimadagu Gram Panchayat in the border areas of the taluk, gets its water from borewells. “If we add this water to the milk we use, the milk gets bad. If we consume the water, we develop pain in the limbs, joints and jaws. There is a desperate need to get pure water,” said the residents of Kadarinatta.

Venkatesh, a resident of Kadarinatta, said that many people had also developed insomnia. No level of treatment so far has been able to solve the health problems, he added.

“The borewell has been sunk to a depth of 1,000 feet, which adds to the reason for the poor quality of the water it gives. The authorities concerned – the Panchayat development officers – have definitely been informed about the matter several times. There has yet been no action taken so far to improve the condition and provide us water that is fit for human consumption,” they complained.

Kadarinatta houses 110 families, with a total population of 550 citizens. Children from the neighbouring villages of Narasimhapura, Sagarasanahalli and Totada Mane too come to the village government higher primary school, which, totally, has 75 students. All of them are forced to drink the borewell water at Kadarinatta.

No water for milk

The local anganwadi centre has been facing a supplementary problem because of the low quality water that the village gets. The centre is required to provide milk – using milk powder – for the children. But, to do so, there should be a supply of pure drinking water.

Also, since there is no public source of water that gives even a glass of good quality drinking water, the staff members at the centre have to request residents in their neighbourhood for supply of water that can be given to the children at the centre.

“There are a few borewells in the vicinity of the village, but they are all dried up. We have to approach the owners of a couple of private borewells situated about a kilometre away from Kadarinatta, to give us water. But it all depends on the owners, as we can take water only with their permission,” said the residents.

Irregular power supply

Adding on the matter, they said, “Very often, such collection of water is hindered by the irregular power supply. There are private owners who are ready to give water, but cannot do so as there is no power to pump the water and give us. Either way, we have very little chances of getting water worth consuming.”

They have been repeatedly requesting for the start of a drinking water supply unit near the village. “Till then, we will be forced to consume either this low quality water or go to private owners for water. The authorities and representatives could at least have considered giving us water from tankers,” they requested.