Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Jan 29: People in high positions and leaders keep harping about ensuring that government facilities reach the downtrodden. But many a time this gets confined to speeches and statements made from the dais, as evidenced by the plight of a family living at Kadakkeri within Kuppepadavu gram panchayat limits here.

Leela from Koraga tribe has planted about 500 areca nut saplings in her land. She was sanctioned bore well under the integrated tribal development project in 2016-17. She got good water table underground. Arrangement to provide power connection and overhead tank to store water have been built but she has been denied electricity connection.

She has been denied power connection because there is a drinking water bore well just 150 metres away from her bore well. But the bore well was dug only after Kuppepadavu gram panchayat issued no objection certificate to the tribal development corporation. Now she has been told that no tube well can be dug within 250 metres from an existing bore well. Leela says she has been running from pillar to post but none of the officials are giving proper assurances for the last four years, and the bore well dug by her has become waste in spite of having good water source.

Deputy director of integrated tribal development department, Hemalatha, says she will look into the matter and try to provide power connection to the bore well. She said that she will have to see what went wrong in the first place.