Andaman to have no water supply from June 6: Government

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

Port Blair, May 30 (UNI) The Andaman and Nicobar administration today announced that there would be no water supply through pipelines in South Andaman from June 6 due to severe water shortage.

The decision was taken during a senior level meeting held recently in Port Blair, after the water level of the Dhanikhari Dam, the lone water reservoir of South Andaman, had gone down drastically, Krishna Sharan Singh, Deputy Commissioner of South Andaman told UNI today.

The Monsoons had set over Andaman on May 10, but South Andaman received insufficient rainfall.

The water level of the Dhanikhari dam had gone down so much that due to low gravity pressure, it would be impossible to supply water through pipelines after June 5, Mr Singh said.

Mr Singh added that from June 6, only 20 litres of water would be supplied through tankers per head per day, which is insufficient according to the residents.

To deal with the problem, the administration roped in the Port Blair Municipal Council (PBMC) and Andaman PWD. All the water tankers available with the administration, together with some private water tankers had already been put into use.

From October 6, water tankers will supply water to all the places in South Andaman as per schedule, he said. Altogether 31 water tankers had been arranged for this purpose.

''We will take up one area at a time and distribute water ward-wise. We will ensure that everybody gets water and for that, the revenue and police officials along with the concerned ward councillors will be present,'' he said.

Meanwhile, the PBMC demanded armed policemen with every water tanker fearing water riots.

After the Tsunami, when the water tankers carrying water for supplying to the residents, the people forcibly halted the tankers, even in police presence. At times armed forces had to intervene to control the situation. Chairman of the PBMC Sher Singh told UNI.

In a letter addressed to the Deputy Commissioner of South Andaman, Mr Singh said if the tankers were sent to different wards without armed police, the PBMC would not be able to control the situation. Consequently, for every water-tanker, there should be two armed police personnel, the chairman demanded.

Meanwhile, all the political parties, including the Congress, RJD and CPI(M) were concerned over the situation and condemned the administration.

The lone Member of Parliament from Andaman, Manoranjan Bhakta alleged that the administration was not taking any political parties into confidence before expediting the modalities of water supply.

''I feel that this very important matter should have been tackled by involving the leaders of the various political parties, but the administration tried to deal with it single-handedly. The action taken by the administration is not known to the public representatives,'' the local MP said in a letter addressed to the Lt Governor.

UNI

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