Lakshmipuram struggles without water as pipeline

VELLORE: Nearly 10,000 residents of Lakshmipuram in the Gandhinagar area of Vellore Corporation limits have been without piped Cauvery water due to the line being damaged more than a month ago, sources revealed.

The line was damaged when a contractor under the Vellore smart city project used a JCB to dig a trench breaking the pipeline.

“Now we are faced with water issues as the corporation does not provide tanker supply,” said a local businessman Karthi. “We have to rely on either bore or well water or get bottled water to meet our needs” he added.

A retired central government employee and resident refusing to divulge his name said, “we want to know how contractors were allowed to dig at will without the presence of corporation technical staff.”

“Though this area is right in the middle of Katpadi constituency represented by Minister of Water Resources Duraimurugan, the MLA has not till date done anything to redress the grievance,” said local housewife Lakshmi. “Duraimurugan keeping his hands off such issues was due to his being peeved at the minor margin with which he won the constituency the last time,” said a DMK insider.

However, a local DMK councilor revealed that the corporation was helpless as contractors citing pending dues from January refused to take up such work without proper orders.

Boopathy, a resident, said, “If the local body had followed the dictat issued in the mid-eighties about officials from BSNL, TWAD, local body and TNEB being present when road cutting work was to be undertaken this fiasco could have been avoided.”

Corporation commissioner S Ashok Kumar was not available for comment.