Residents, farmers, small traders and students in Pachakuppam village, around five kms from Ambur town in Tirupattur, blocked the Vadapudupatti - Kanaru Main Road, which is maintained by the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), on Friday over the damage caused to the existing water pipelines along the road by trucks and tipper lorries that carry loads of mud to nearby towns.
Residents said that remote villages near Vinnamangalam Reserve Forest (RF) have been witnessing continuous movement of trucks and lorries over a fortnight. Lorries carry loads of mud from open plots near the RF round the clock.
The movement of these vehicles have not only damaged the road but also the main water pipeline that supplies water to Vadapudupattu and PachaKuppam villages for nearly two decades.
“Rash driving by lorry drivers puts at risk women and children using the road to go to work and school. Lorry drivers also threatened farmers, who have cultivable lands along the road, when the latter questioned the movement of the vehicles,” said V. Kuppan, president, Vadapudupattu village panchayat that comprises Vadapudupatti, Pachakuppam and Keelmurungai villages in Madhanur block of the district.
Panchayat officials said the water lines had been laid from an 800-ft borewell near the RF to provide water to residents in these villages on alternate days. The villages have three overhead tanks, each with a capacity of 30,000 litres. Water drawn from the borewell is conveyed through pipelines for a distance of five km, and, therefore, it takes five to six hours to fill each tank.
Further, panchayat officials said that the continuous movement of mud-laden lorries and trucks has damaged the underground water pipelines. It has resulted in frequent pipeline bursts at many spots on the stretch. Repair work of the pipelines also remains challenging due to non-stop movement of vehicles. It has disrupted the regular supply of water to households in these villages. Residents depend on panchayat water supply due to salty groundwater.
Around 10 a.m. on Friday, 500 residents from affected villages blocked the key stretch in PachaKuppam village. Based on an alert from lorry drivers, Ambur Taluk police, revenue and forest officials rushed to the spot and pacified the residents
After more than three hours of agitation, residents dispersed after police assured them of action. Subsequently, police closed an illegal quarry of mud near RF, and seized five lorries. A case has also been registered.
