‘Vidhana Soudha Chalo’ for water
DH News Service - April 11, 2006
The decade-old struggle for safe drinking water being staged by the people of Belludi village in Harihar taluk is now heading towards the Vidhana Soudha....
The decade-old struggle for safe drinking water being staged by the people of Belludi village in Harihar taluk is now heading towards the Vidhana Soudha.
The villagers who are facing serious health problems due to the consumption of borewell water containing high flouride levels, have decided to stage ‘Vidhana Soudha Chalo’ in Bangalore on April 13 demanding supply of water from Tungabhadra river flowing nearby.
They plan to carry the flouride-contaminated water with them to Bangalore and show it to the Chief Minister and the Minister of Panchayatraj and Rural Development during their protest, according to a press release by the Nagarika Hitarakshana Samiti, which has been leading the villagers in the struggle for water.
Belludi has a population of about 12,000 and the water in all open wells and borewells in the village is unfit for drinking due to high flouride content. Over the last 10 years, the villagers have staged several protests and appealed to the Gram Panchayat members, MLAs, ministers and to the officials of the concerned departments, to provide potable water.
But, their fight has yielded no result. With the further depletion of ground water table, the flouride problem has become even more severe.
It is possible to supply drinking water to the Belludi village from Tungabhadra river flowing at a distance of just 6 kilometres through a pipeline. During the ‘Vidhana Soudha Chalo’ the villagers plan to urge the Chief Minister to issue immediate directions to the concerned authorities to provide a permanent solution to the drinking water problem and protect their health.
Meanwhile, the Nagarika Hitarakshana Samiti has appealed to the Belludi villagers to come to Harihar Railway Station before 7 am on April 12, to travel to Bangalore to participate in the agitation the next day.
SOURCE:
http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanheral ... 006411.asp