Residents protest in Tiruvannamalai against non-supply of drinking water

Around 10 am on Tuesday, residents of Keel Pudupakkam gathered in the village center and protested against non-supply of water. | Photo credit: Special arrangement

Villagers of Keel Pudupakkam near Cheyyar town in Tiruvannamalai on Tuesday protested against non-supply of drinking water to households for the past few weeks.

The village has about 2,500 families. With temperatures soaring in recent weeks, water supply to households, including street tanks, has been regularly provided by the local panchayat.

Erratic water supply forced residents to travel at least 5-10 km to fetch a few pots of water from Cheyyar and Vembakkam towns. “The panchayat has completely stopped water supply to households in the village for many weeks. As the groundwater in this area is salty, we are dependent on water provided by the civic body for consumption,” said B. Kanchana, a resident.

Around 10 am, the residents gathered in the village center and protested against the panchayat officials and demanded restoration of water supply. Local police and officials intervened on the spot and pacified the residents, who dispersed peacefully after being assured by the authorities. “We have directed the panchayat officials to ensure regular supply of water for consumption. We will also ensure that such basic amenities are made available to residents without any delay,” said a revenue official.

Panchayat officials said that on an average, more than 1.25 lakh liters of water is needed just for household consumption every day. Most of the water comes from two boreholes in the Cheyyar River. Water from these wells was pumped into four overhead reservoirs (OHT) in the village.

However, panchayat officials said the existing motor-pumping sets attached to pump water from borewells in the riverbed were defunct. In order to restore the regular supply of water to the population, it was necessary to repair the pumping units for the wells.

Affected residents lived in tail end areas resulting in water shortages from the upper reservoir. Efforts have been made to supply water to these affected areas through private tankers till the pumping sets are repaired in the coming days, panchayat officials said.

Published – 16 Sep 2026 05:30 IST