ELURU : Three housewives - A. Subbalaskhmi, K. Krishnaveni and B.K. Aliveni - of Ramachandraraopet have served a legal notice on the Commissioner of Eluru Municipal Corporation (EMC) and the district Collector, holding them responsible for erratic supply of drinking water in their locality.

They have also claimed Rs. 1 lakh each from the administration as compensation for the mental agony they have been undergoing for quite some time in drawing water from the municipal taps fitted in their households. The petitioners have set a week as deadline from the date of receipt of the notice to respond.

"If there is no response from the officials to our petition in time, we will place the issue before the appropriate legal forum and get our grievance resolved," they warned.

Illegal activity

The women said that the municipal taps failed to trickle water in the tail-end areas like Ramachandraraopet for a long time due to overexploitation by people in the upper reaches with the help of electric pump sets connected to the taps.

Dereliction of duty

Following a petition by them, municipal officials enquired about the illegal activity and identified a list of people indulging in the activity. But no action came forth yet, they complained.

The petitioners asserted that the services they received from the municipal authorities with respect to supply of drinking water proved to be defective, in spite of their paying the relevant tax to the municipal corporation.

The defective service amounted to dereliction of duties by the top brass of the administration, they contended. The women said sanitation in their locality was also not up to the mark and the stink and mosquitoes in the open drainage system exposed the local people to serious health hazards.

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