Residents of Selva Vinayagar Colony in Basuvaiah Nagar, Pudumund, in Udhagamandalam staged a protest outside the District Collector’s office, alleging that the water being supplied to them was contaminated.

The residents, who submitted a petition to the Collector, said that their settlement was located in Ward Number 3 of Udhagamandalam Municipality, with more than 100 families residing there. They said that they were being supplied with water from the Marlimund Lake nearby. However, due to a lack of rainfall, the water level in the lake had drastically reduced, leading to water from the lake being brackish.

The water also carried a particular odour which made residents suspect that it might be polluted, they said in their petition. Many families were having to walk multiple kilometers to access clean water for drinking, they said.

As a means of ensuring clean drinking water to the settlement, the residents urged the collector to grant permission for a new bore well to be dug in the area, which the residents themselves said they were willing to pay for.

Residents demand bus facility

In a separate complaint, residents of Kannerimukku, Thubagandi, and a number of villages surrounding Kokkal near Udhagamandalam alleged that a community was stopping them from boarding buses from the Kokkal bus stop. As a result, the residents of the villages wanted a separate bus to be assigned to the village of Kannerimukku to stop any chances of arguments breaking out. If that was unfeasible, they urged the Collector to extend the bus service to Kannerimukku at specified times.