Residents block Kanchi Road near Girivalam trail in Tiruvannamalai demanding restoration of water supply

Residents are staging a protest on Kanchi Main Road due to lack of drinking water. Traffic on the road was disrupted for an hour.

As parched lakes and ponds dried up wells and boreholes, residents of Adaiyur village, mostly women, blocked the Kanchi main road near the Arunachaleswar temple in Tiruvannamalai on Thursday, demanding immediate restoration of water supply for household consumption.

Residents said the village is part of the Tiruvannamalai Corporation, which includes 39 wards within its limits. The settlements in the village are located along the Girivalam trail in a low-lying area. Most of the houses in the village are terminal areas where water supply is irregular for many months. “Since the ground water in the area is salty, we depend on the water provided by the civic body for consumption. The corporation should restore water supply in the area,” said N. Suganthi, a resident.

With soaring temperatures in recent weeks, water supplies to households, including street corner tanks, have not reached the end areas on the Girivalam trail. Among the residential colonies is the densely populated village of Adaiyur with more than 300 families.

Irregular water supply forced residents to go to nearby wards every day to fetch several pots of water. This has led to frequent quarrels with the residents of these wards as the demand for water supplied by the company is high.

In this connection, residents of Adaiyur village blocked a key stretch near Girivalam trail around 9 am. This affected traffic on the route for over an hour. Agitated residents dispersed peacefully after assurances from civic officials that water supply would be restored.

Corporation officials said the affected households are located in terminal areas where the existing overhead tank (OHT) is at least one kilometer away from the point of supply. As a result, consumers around the reservoir could draw more water due to the close proximity of the reservoir. As the volume of stored water in the tank decreases, the flow to the end areas slows down, affecting the distribution of water.

After the protest, civic officials said the existing 5 HP motor pump was replaced with a 7.5 HP to pump more water from the existing borehole, which is about 300 feet deep. In addition, the company has started drilling more wells near the reservoir to ensure water supply in the tail end areas.

Corporation officials said once the new borewell is laid, consumers along the Girivalam trail will get regular water supply. At present, the corporation gets 21.50 MLD (million liters per day) against a demand of 23 MLD from its key water source at Sathanur Dam, 24 km from the city.

Published – 03 Jul 2026 0:42 IST