The only pond upon which Beherapali residents depend in summer. Telegraph picture

Balangir, April 22: Residents of Beherapali, who have been facing acute scarcity of potable water, staged demonstration in front of the district collector’s office here today demanding renovation of a local pond and regular supply of drinking water.

At least 500 residents assembled to vent their ire against the district administration’s “failure” to solve the water problems of the area. The local residents later gheraoed the municipality office.

The pond that caters to the need of 2,000 residents goes dry every summer. This year also, there is very little water left in the pond, as a result of which the local residents have been hit by water scarcity. Moreover, there is no potable water supply in the area.

Bibhuti Sagar, a resident of Beherapali, said there was little water left in the pond as the sidewall of the pond was damaged by rain every year following which water goes out from the pond.

“For the last three years in a row, the sidewall of the pond is repaired during the summer, but the work is so poor that it gets damaged during heavy shower in the monsoon. As a result, there is hardly any water left in the pond during the summer. One contractor has been engaged to repair the sidewall of the pond, but he has not yet started any work,” he said.

Balajee Deep, another resident of Beherapali, said the administration was not doing anything to provide drinking water to the residents of the locality. “This is a long standing demand, but nothing has been done to provide drinking water to the Beherapali residents. We demand that drinking water be supplied to our area through tanker,” he said.

Admitting the water scarcity of Beherapali, executive officer of the Balangir Municipality Srikanta Das said the municipality had initiated a plan of Rs 5 lakh for renovation of the pond and improvement of water service in the Beherapali area.

“We have engaged a contractor to execute the work and he will start the work with in a week,” Das said.

The executive officer also said that Rs 10 lakh had been sanctioned for construction of the sidewall of the pond. “This time we ensure quality work, so that the sidewall doesn’t get damaged during the monsoon,” he said.