Andhra Pradesh - Guntur   

Drinking water crisis hits Gorantla

By Our Staff Reporter

GUNTUR, APRIL. 29. The Gorantla panchayat in the Guntur rural mandal faces severe drinking water crisis despite having the resources and infrastructure to supply the same to the 30,000 population due to non-implementation of a Protected Water Supply scheme by the Panchayat.

Every household in Gorantla pays Rs. 25 per month for two pots of drinking water every alternate day, though the Guntur Municipal Corporation provides about 2.5 lakh litres per day. The other problem is the lack of proper mechanism to separate the sweet water from the saline water that is supplied through the existing pipeline network.

The groundwater level, which is depleting with every passing month from February as could be seen from the figures available with the Groundwater Survey Department, is currently at 9 meters from the surface as on date. The saline water pumped from a borewell into a overhead tank is supplied for half an hour every day, which is not potable.

The sweet water received from the GMC also gets into the same network and mixes with the saline water making it useless for drinking purpose.

A series of public-interest litigations filed by one Kolli Sivarama Reddy, a cotton seed grower, and hunger strike by him in December last year the per tap connection charge for supply of sweet water through the Rs. 53-lakh PWS scheme was fixed at Rs. 5,000 for general category and Rs. 2,500 for the SC and ST communities.

The people allege that it was the non-payment of Gorantla Panchayat's contribution of Rs. 16.66 lakhs that had stalled the Rs. 53-lakh project from July 1998, when the Chief Minister had announced it. Temporary arrangement of releasing water from the GMC was made in May 2001, when Mr. Reddy, popularly known as `Neella Reddy' (Water Reddy) threatened hunger strike. A 6-km. pipeline was laid for supply of water from Nehru Nagar storage tank to the panchayat.

The Panchayat then fixed Rs. 11,000 as the deposit for obtaining connections under the scheme, but was opposed by the residents as they could not afford it. Only 160 persons paid the requisite fee and the others depended on the tankers supplied by the `Seva Bharati' and later though water is supplied free, residents have to bear the transportation charges.

The `Pedda Baavi' which was the only source of sweet water for entire village till early 1980s also turned saline and the remaining dried up.

A bacterial analysis of the salt water also proved harmful since 1988 forcing villagers to find other alternatives, said Mr. Reddy.

Majority of the residents working as farm labourers or in some cotton mills, find it difficult to wait for the tanker to fetch one pot of sweet water. The tractor driver stations the tanker at a junction and stands there with his notebook to collect the fee and mark number of pots collected by each woman.

The revenue of the panchayat nearing Rs. 1 crore could coordinate with the District Panchayat Officer and get the project implemented fast, opine residents. They have pinned all their hopes on the new MLA and MP who they think would bring piped drinking water into their houses.

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