Villagers lay siege to Collectorate demanding drinking water
The Hindu
DINDIGUL
Villagers of Rayarpuram under Seelapadi Panchayat in Dindigul West laid siege to the District Collectorate demanding resumption of drinking water supply, here on Monday.
More than 100 families living in Arunthathiyar Colony in Rayarpuram under the Seelapadi Panchayat have been without drinking water for the past one-and-a-half years as the pipeline was damaged during the work undertaken to lay a new road from Thaneerpandal to Arunthathiyar Colony.
The villagers said that earlier they had been receiving drinking water through the Cauvery Comprehensive Drinking Water Scheme.
Eventually, the road laying process was stopped temporarily and the broken pipes were left unattended ever since, said the protestors.
The affected villagers lamented that they had repeatedly alerted the Panchayat officials including the president, union councillor and ward members on the issue but their complaints were never addressed.
Agitated by this, more than 50 villagers, including women and children, from the area came with empty pots and laid a siege to the District Collectorate.
They squatted on the ground and raised slogans. Following this, the police rushed to the spot and held talks with them.
The Opposition Congress demanded that the government open the Gandhi Vatika Museum, depicting Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy and freedom struggle, built at a cost of ₹85 crore in Jaipur’s Central Park last year, during the Congress-led regime in Rajasthan. The museum has not been opened to the public, reportedly because of the administration’s engagements with the State Assembly and Lok Sabha elections.