Women protest at MPDO office seeking drinking water in Mancherial

Women from a colony in Jaggayyapet village staged a protest in Bheemini mandal over the lack of drinking water supply under Mission Bhageeratha. They alleged that they were forced to consume unsafe stream water and demanded immediate action from officials

Mancherial: Women from a colony in Jaggayyapet village regretted that they were forced to drink water drawn from streams due to the lack of water supply through the Mission Bhageeratha scheme. They staged a sit-in at the Mandal Parishad Development Officer’s office in Bheemini mandal headquarters on Monday.

The agitating women said that they were left with no option but to drink unsafe water extracted from stream riverbeds while braving scorching heatwave conditions. They stated that they had been facing an acute drinking water crisis for the past few months. They regretted that the issue was brought to the notice of officials, but in vain.

---

The women alleged that the local Panchayat secretary and Sarpanch were showing negligence in addressing the problem. They urged officials to take steps to resolve the issue. They declared that they would stage a similar protest in front of the Integrated District Offices Complex in Mancherial if the problem was not resolved.

Officials said funds of Rs 40,000 were sanctioned to lay a pipeline to the colony. The work was stalled after locals raised objections to the pipeline, which led to the lapse of the funds. They stated that proposals were prepared to lay a new pipeline at an estimated cost of Rs 1.20 lakh. Efforts are on to commence the work at the earliest.