Women block road at Kuluthkani. Telegraph picture

Sambalpur, April 6: Women of Kuluthkani of Sambalpur Municipality today blocked road with their empty buckets and utensils to register their protest against inadequate drinking water.

They alleged that the locality had been facing water crisis for long, but the authorities had been indifferent to this issue.

“We have been demanding proper supply of water for the last fifteen years. The five hundred families residing here depend on a creek. During the summer, the canal cannot provide water, forcing us to face severe water scarcity,” said Kiran Nanda, a homemaker and resident of Kuluthkani.

“Dark lanes have been another problem in the area. Kuluthkani has been provided with electricity. Still, there are no streetlights,” said Srikant Purohit, a local resident.

“Earlier, we had resorted to blocking road twice. At that time, the then chairman of Sambalpur Municipality and the executive engineer of the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) had assured us that they would resolve the problem,” said Purohit.

“We had also filed a case in the high court in this regard. The court had given a direction to the authorities for immediate action. We had brought the order of the high court to the notice of the then Public Health Engineering Department’s executive engineer and revenue divisional commissioner,” said Sanatan Sahu, a local resident.

Today, PHED executive engineer Hadibandhu Behera and tehsildar Ajaya Tiwari visited the spot to pacify the mob and discussed the matter with them.