Residents of Pillumari and Thuthiyani villages near Devakottai at Sivaganga Collectorate on Monday submitted petition demanding water supply to their villages.
| Photo Credit: L. BALACHANDAR
Residents in two villages near Devakottai are facing a critical crisis, struggling daily to secure enough water for drinking and basic survival.A severe water shortage is gripping the adjacent villages of Thuthiyani and Billumari, located in the Devakottai union of Sivaganga district. The ongoing drought-like situation has left residents without enough water for drinking and daily needs, forcing them to sell off their livestock to survive.Home to more than 80 families, who rely entirely on agriculture and cattle rearing, the area is suffering from a drought-like situation.Compounding the crisis, the local groundwater is brackish and unusable for pump sets. This has left the residents without drinking water and forced them to sell off their livestock to survive.While the villagers rely on the kanmai for their farming needs, domestic water in Thuthiyani village is distributed through an overhead tank.As this water is brackish, it is unfit for drinking; it was previously used only for bathing and washing clothes.Desperate for clean water, residents are now forced to buy drinking water at ₹15 per pot. To make matters worse, even the supply of brackish water has been poorly distributed for the past year. Now, with the kanmai completely dried up, the entire community is left struggling to survive.Due to the drought, they are unable to raise livestock and are selling them off, lamented the residents.Arokiya Sebastian and Sengol from Thuthiyani village said, “Under the Jal Jeevan Mission, we were charged ₹820 per household to provide water connections. We were promised the supply of Cauvery drinking water, but so far, no drinking water has been provided.”“Since even the brackish water is no longer available, we ourselves are struggling without water. Consequently, we are selling the livestock. In the past year, we have sold more than 10 cows and over 50 goats. Because of this, the income we received from selling milk has also been affected. If this situation continues, we will be forced to vacate our village,” they stated.Residents of Billumari village added, “The supply of brackish water to our village was stopped a year ago. However, under the Jal Jeevan Mission, they only provided water connections. With no water in the kanmais, we are unable to even raise goats and cattle.” Published - July 07, 2026 08:39 pm IST
