Perennial drinking water crisis in Berhampur city

Residents of Ashok Nagar threaten poll boycott

The perennial drinking water crisis in Berhampur which continues to be an election issue leaped to the fore when residents of an area held protest demonstration and threatened to boycott polls to protest against disruption of drinking water supply to their area since cyclone Phailin hit the area.

Residents of Sarada Bhavan Sahi and Cooperative colony blocked the Ashok Nagar main road with empty pots. They also put up a banner threatening to boycott the coming polls on April 10, if they did not get any written promise from the authorities of Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) regarding solution to their problem.

Pushpanjali Mishra, a woman who led the agitation said since cyclone Phailin hit, piped drinking water to their area had completely snapped. Till now it had not been repaired and water was being distributed to the area by tankers, which was not sufficient during the summer months. Former mayor of the city Siba Shankar Dash, who has defected from the ruling BJD to become the candidate of the BJP for Berhampur assembly seat reached out to the protestors and held discussions with them. The BJD corporator of the area Surendra Moharana also rushed there. The corporator accepted that the residents of the area were suffering due to lack of piped drinking water supply since past few months. Mr. Dash and Mr. Moharana urged the voters to refrain from poll boycott call as the problem could be solved. Source: The Hindu