Cuttack, Sept. 9: Hundreds of people took to the streets at Jobra today protesting against the irregular supply of drinking water.

With buckets in their hands, the demonstrators blocked the main road disrupting traffic for more than two hours.

The situation returned to normal after senior police officers and executive engineer of the public health department (PHD) A.K. Nayak spoke to the agitators and assured them of taking immediate measures to address their problem.

The protesters, on the other hand, gave the authorities a seven-day deadline to the PHD officials to set things right and threatened to intensify their agitation if their demands were not met by then.

“At present, there is no problem in water supply to different localities at Jobra. Though there are few complaints, the residents today have submitted a memorandum and we have assured them to look into their demands,” said the executive engineer.

Local residents said the drinking water problem had assumed serious proportions at Talasahi, Mallaha Sahi, Bazar Road and the surrounding areas in Jobra.

Moreover, no step was being taken to repair blocked pipelines in different localities.

“Most people in Jobra are affected by irregularity in water supply and the problem assumes serious proportions in summer,” said Manasi Mohapatra, 36, a homemaker.

She said they were facing irregular water supply for the last two years and despite approaching concerned officials of the Cuttack Municipal Corporation and the public health department (PHD), no measure had been taken to improve the situation.

“It is completely because of the negligence of officials that despite several complaints no step is being taken to address such issues of the residents,” said D.K. Bhanja, 59, another local resident.

Bhanja said despite the population of Jobra exceeding 10,000, the basic civic amenities were not available to most residents.

Speaking on the water situation, Bhanja said residents were not getting adequate supply of water because the pipelines were blocked. The authorities should initiate steps to either replace the old pipelines or clear the blockages, he said.