JHARSUGUDA:Water scarcity in Jharsuguda district is not new and more importantly, in Brajrajnagagr area, where because of coal mining, water level depletes due to cervices in coal mines.
The crisis deepens with advancement of summer as people struggle for every drop of water.
Ironically, the villages also include Rajpur, which is home to former Brajrajnagagr MLA and chairman of Odisha Lift Irrigation Corporation Anup Sai.
Rajpur had a drinking water project which drew water from Basundhara river and supplied it to Rajpur, Rugdidhipa and Deogaon villages.
The drinking water project, which was commissioned in 2014, provided water to 336 families in these villages till it broke down more than a week back leaving the villagers, CHC, schools and Anganwadi Centre in the lurch.
While the people have been forced to fall back on the polluted Basundhara river, in a bid to cleanse the water, they have dug up pit on the sandy bed of the river and are collecting water from the pit for drinking and cooking purposes.
With water level depleting, water does not ooze out from tube-wells thus worsening their woes.
A meeting was held on Sunday which was attended by Rajpur Sarpanch Jatin Deo and Village Water and Sanitation Committee president Jatindra Meher.
They castigated the WESCO for their inhumane approach and it was resolved to collect money from among the villagers and clear the outstanding dues.
It was also decided that the drinking water project will be handed over to the Gram Panchayat, which will ensure its smooth operation.