No water for last four months in Ganjimath Dalit colony

Mangalore, February 11: Residents of Ganeshnagar colony in Ganjimath, who comprise Dalits and Kudubis, have alleged that they do not have drinking water supply for the last four months.

Over 50 families, mostly from the Kudubi community, complain that their drinking water supply, which was sourced from a bore well dug up in their area, has become defunct. Ganeshnagar colony is located in Badagulipady village in Ganjimath gram panchayat limits, around 20km from Mangalore. “During the gram panchayat elections, candidates sought votes. But it is nearly five months, and they have not solved the problem despite our repeated pleas. We (women) have to walk so much to find good drinking water, that too, after returning from a day's work,” said an angry 50-year-old Seethu.

She and several other women in the colony are daily wage labourers. Several of the women complained that they had to wait for several hours for water from a bore well just outside their colony. But they had to push the handle of the hand pump for several minutes before there was any sign of water, they said. For some time, one of the residents of the colony allowed the others to use water from the well of their house. But for the last few days, even that has gone dry, they said. Gopal Gowda said “The prices of vegetables have risen so much. We can not afford to wait here for drinking water all day without going for work. Some of us are old, most families have children. We wake up in the morning and there is no water for us to drink.”

Seeta, who is an agricultural labourer, said things would have been easier for her if she had daughters. Her three sons went for work in the morning and only returned in the evening, while she went for work as well as arranged for water.

Gram panchayat member G.M. Imtiyaz said in the last four months the panchayat had dug up four wells but none of them had any water. He said that the problem had risen because a bore well had been dug up in the neighbouring of Badaga Yedapadavu, and that the panchayat was working to address the issue of water supply for the colony.