Villagers of Krishnanpudur carrying empty pots at the Collectorate in Tirunelveli on Monday.
| Photo Credit: A. SHAIKMOHIDEEN
Carrying empty pots, a group of villagers from Krishnanpudur from Nanguneri taluk submitted a petition to Collector Anand Mohan on Monday seeking a permanent solution to the drinking water crisis faced by them for more than a year.The petitioners said their hamlet with 60 houses was getting drinking water from a reverse osmosis plant installed at a public place by the South Nanguneri village panchayat five years ago. However, the equipment was removed without informing the residents. Hence, the villagers crossed the Tirunelveli – Kanniyakumari four-lane national highway to collect drinking water from a leaking pipeline, risking their lives.“Since this leakage was set right a year ago, even the last source of drinking water for Krishnanpudur was effectively destroyed. The water supplied to our village is salty and is not fit for consumption. Those who drink this water after treating it in using traditional methods are facing health issues,” said S. Ponkumar, one of the petitioners.“We are now drawing drinking water from Perumalpuram, which is five km away from our village. Even after giving several petitions to the village panchayat president and Nanguneri Block Development Officer on the issue, no step has been taken. Hence, we submitted a petition to the Collector seeking a permanent solution for the drinking water problem,” he added.A petition seeking a speed-breaker near the mosque on Courtallam Road in Tirunelveli Town was submitted. The petitioners said the speeding vehicles on the road was a threat to those coming to the mosque to offer prayers and also the children coming to the madarasa to learn the Koran.Another group of petitioners, who had received free house sites from the government appealed to the Collector seeking basic infrastructure in the area so that they could build their houses.The petitioners said the Department of Backward Class Welfare gave free house sites at Kokkattikulam near Mela Karungulam close to Melapalayam to 300 beneficiaries a few years ago. While some of the beneficiaries had built houses on their plots, most of the plots remained vacant as no road, street light, drinking water etc. had been provided. Moreover, scarce groundwater in the area discouraged the beneficiaries from constructing their houses.“Since the beneficiaries are yet to build their houses on the free house sites, the revenue officials, after inspecting the site, have announced that the plots would be taken back by the government as the beneficiaries failed to fulfil their promise of constructing their houses immediately after receiving the plots. If the government forms roads, installs street lights and give a drinking water connection to this area, most of the beneficiaries would immediately start the construction of the houses. Hence, the District Collector should instruct the officials to create essential infrastructure at Kokkattikulam to facilitate the construction of houses there,” said M. Sankareswari, one of the petitioners. Published - September 07, 2026 08:48 pm IST
