Water shortage hits villages Swajaladhara project fails

Betu villagers are yet again facing drinking water problem as Swajaladhara Project providing drinking water has stopped functioning due to flawed implementation.

According to the villagers, water supply has been stopped since the onset of the monsoon. The district administration has not yet repaired the pipeline, the villagers said.

The water tank with 50,000-litre capacity was built a few years ago, but there is no source of water in the vicinity. Water to the tank was supplied from Ettukadu stream at a distant location.

A jack-well was built to draw water from the stream. However, the system is frequently hit by power disruptions, malfunction of pumps and breakage of the pipeline.

Due to heavy rain maintenance work could not be carried out. About 30 families in Madiwalara colony are dependent on it for the water.

Due to the shortage of funds, the jack-well could not be shifted near the road.

Betu Gram Panchayat Vice President Kaleyanda Saba Timmaiah said that the water supply had been stopped as there was no way that the broken pipeline could be repaired.

“The Ettukadu stream is in full flow owing to the incessant rains,” he added.