Hundreds of villagers of Deobhuin gram panchayat under Narasinghpur block in Cuttack district are reeling under acute drinking water problem since long. Surrounded by hills and jungles, the gram panchayat has a large number of tribal inhabitants. The tribals live by minor forest produce what they collect from the forests and sell in the local markets. They make their world self-sufficient with home-made brews and local songs and dances. They do not understand about administration, or about the complexities of the outer world.
During election, the leaders deceive the innocent tribal people here by offering liquors and money. Since these people do not know how to air their grievances, the leaders cheat them easily. Our correspondent Dinesh Das reached the village of Kandhala under Deobhuin panchayat to understand their problems and found that the people were drinking contaminated water throughout the year collected from a branch of canal situated at a distance of one and a half miles from the village. Three bore wells dug in the village were damaged. Every day women and their children rush to the distant canal for collecting water.
About 80 families of 300 people live in the village. A women SHG has been formed here. Its executive members Sumati Parida, Kalpana Amat, Kabita Amat, Hemabati Jena and others told that they would soon meet their legislator Debi Prasad Mishra to sort out their drinking water problem.