JHARSUGUDA: From the small hours of the day a serpentine queue can be seen near the open well at Abhaypur area of ward 3 of Brajrajnagar Municipality. This has been the scene ever since summer set in.The locality is considered to be one of the most dry pockets of Brajrajnagar where three underground mines of Orient Area of the MCL are located.Sources said due to presence of the three mines, groundwater level recedes to the extent that deep bore-wells are also rendered useless.The municipality has sunk two deep bore-wells of which one fails to yield water, while the other two - depth of 500 feet - are inadequate to meet the water requirements of the area. The open well is the last resort for the water-starved people who tussle from midnight to collect whatever they can get.Municipal executive officer Pradip Mohanty admitted to the dry situation and attributed it to the presence of the underground mines. He added that the civic body is trying to meet the demand through water tankers.However, retired schoolteacher Sukhdev Nanda (60) said the tanker water supply is erratic. “The tankers are irregular and do not meet the water needs in any way. What will we do if we are denied our basic necessity. Neither do the MCL officials listen to us nor does the civic body provides us water,” said Sukhdev Nanda. He said people have no other option but to hit the streets.Housewife Khirodini Senapati said if women like her do not wake up early and fetch water, they would have to do without it for the entire day.The MCL sub-area manager for the Orient area, Rajiv Kumar, said they supply water through tankers to areas as per the direction of the municipality. “We would have no problems in covering ward 3,” he said.
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