With summer rains delayed and groundwater levels depleting, many households in rural Kozhikode are facing acute shortage of potable water.
Many dug wells have already dried up, forcing families to wait for water supply from tankers. The situation is likely to worsen as the domestic connections of the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) are still not reaching many places.
The interior areas of Vadakara, Payyoli and Nadapuram have been facing water shortage for more than a month. The residents of these places are fetching water from far-flung sources. Similarly, due to infiltration of salt water, the sources of potable water of many houses in the coastal areas are getting spoiled.
Panchayat level special supply schemes, including opening of water kiosks, have not yet been initiated, although their demand is very high. As water scarcity has been reported in different places, the local administrators have not yet taken it seriously. As a result, residents of such areas are forced to depend on water from tube wells.
“Last year, youth organizations supplied water to the drought-affected areas. Political parties were also active. But, this time no such step has been taken,” said Sabir Mohammad, a resident of Chombal. He said that the KWA or the local administrators have been indifferent to the issue.
A dual concern of the affected households, revenue officials have yet to convene taluk- or village-level meetings to consider the scope of potable water supply to the most affected places. Although hundreds of water kiosks were working in the past years, now such measures are absent.
Many urban households are also facing shortage of potable water with supply interrupted by KWAs due to maintenance work and leakages. The ongoing pipe-laying work under the GAIL project was also found affecting the regular supply in several areas within the Kozhikode Corporation.
Meanwhile, revenue department sources said the drinking water supply scheme could be launched within two weeks after the district administration holds a meeting to review the situation. He also expressed confidence that the crisis can be tackled through the intervention of village-level revenue squads and local administrators and resumption of free water supply.
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