Depletion of underground water sources, evaporation of water bodies and severe heat conditions resulting in dehydration are the common woes in summer. While in the urban areas, drinking water is supplied through tankers, people living in hilly areas of the district depend on streams and water springs to satiate their thirst.
The absence of proper road access to far-flung tribal hamlets hampers prompt shifting of patients in emergencies to nearby Primary Health Centre (PHC) or the King George Hospital (KGH) in the city.
“The bore wells in some hamlets are being contaminated due to granite quarrying, which is going on indiscriminately in tribal areas,” allege Girijana Sangham leaders Pangi Chandrayya and P. Govinda Rao.
The tribal people of Ajaypuram village of Cheemalapadu panchayat in Ravikamatham mandal staged a protest recently by keeping water containers on their heads and kneeling on the ground, to draw the attention of the authorities to their woes.
Four dead
Tribal people often fall sick due to consumption of contaminated water from the streams and springs. Following the death of four persons at Karakavalasa village of Romapalli panchayat in Anantagiri mandal during August and September last year, a team from the KGH interacted with the tribal people and found that they had collected drinking water from pits. The water was stored in their homes for three days before it was consumed.
The concentration of heavy metals in water and soil and alcohol, which the tribal people consume regularly, were suspected to be the cause of the problem. The patients showed swelling of lower limbs and shortness of breath.
Inaccessibility
“The lack of roads to interior villages, scattered houses and inability of bore well drilling rigs to reach the interior villages are coming in the way of supplying safe drinking water. The felling of trees for podu cultivation is leading to depletion of ground water aggravating the problem,” Paderu MLA K. Bhagyalakshmi tells The Hindu.
“I have requested the ITDA PO (Venkateswar Salijamula) to plan rain water harvesting and water shed programmes under NREGS. The 14th Finance Commission funds will lapse by the end of this month and we have sought their utilisation for drinking water schemes. The Centre has also allocated ₹49 crore under Jal Jeevan Mission,” Ms. Bhagyalakshmi says while admitting that safe drinking water continues to be a major problem in tribal areas.
