Water scarcity looms in Chikkareshme

Residents of Chikkareshme tribal hamlet face a daily struggle to access a basic facility like drinking water. They need to travel long distances to source drinking water for their homes.

The tribal hamlet, falling under Chennaianakote Gram Panchayat near Siddapura, has around 35 tribal families where the problem of drinking water scarcity has been prevalent for the past few years.

The problem persists every summer and the people need to travel several kilometres to fetch water.

The government had drilled seven borewells that are now defunct due to poor maintenance.

Most of the borewells have run dry and the ones with water are unusable as the pipes have gathered rust due to lack of maintenance.

The residents used to draw water from an open well, but the groundwater level has reduced, and the well has run dry.

Due to this, they depend on water from private borewells in estates which are only accessible by foot.

The residents expressed displeasure over the poor maintenance of borewells by the Gram Panchayat and the district administration.

Due to the prevailing situation, they are forced to fetch water after they come back from their work in the evening. The increased presence of wild elephants around the area has also made it difficult for them to fetch water in the late hours.

Prior to this, the Gram Panchayat had made arrangements to supply drinking water through tankers to the hamlet. An effort had been made by the district administration to supply water from nearby private borewells to the houses. However, the tribal have voiced their discomfort as the borewells are far, and insisted that water should be supplied by tankers to their houses.

A senior leader questioned as to why private borewells in estates have water but not the ones provided by the government.