Residents Struggle in Extreme Heat
In a startling development, a man was accused of siphoning off the entire pond in the village through the JCB machine for his own selfish gains. This has left the pond completely dried up when there is a severe drought condition in the region during the peak summer season. This has affected not only the people of the village but also the livestock and birds.
This has happened in the village of Kenpaju in the Phulbani block of Kandhamal district. The village pond was one of the sources of water that never ran dry in the past years. The villagers were dependent upon this pond for irrigation purposes, and the domestic animals and birds for drinking water. The pond was situated on National Highway 157 connecting Phulbani to Berhampur, where people stopped to have a rest and take some water.
But recently, there was news that a person from the locality claimed himself as the owner of the land and brought in a huge machine to dig the pond and drain all the water. Now, there is not even a drop of water left in the pond, and the villagers are facing a water scarcity issue in the peak summer season.
It is to be noted that the pond earlier belonged to the panchayat and was even utilized for fish farming purposes via tender process. According to the villagers, in spite of filing a written complaint with the concerned district authorities, nothing has been done so far.
In response to the problem, Block Development Officer, Soumya Ranjan Patra, said that nobody had any right to dry a pond which belongs to everybody, particularly during the summer season. According to him, anything that could be done in relation to the pond could only be done when a proper decision is taken through a meeting of the water panchayat.
Villagers have thus called upon restoring the pond through panchayat, and developing it properly.
