Thiruvananthapuram: The Chekkalakkonam Harijan Drinking Water Project in the Pacha ward of Nanniyode panchayat has become an example of how well-intentioned development schemes collapse when execution falls short.

Launched in 2015–16 with ₹21 lakh from the Scheduled Caste Development Department's corpus fund under the Vamanapuram Block Panchayat, the project has yet to supply a single drop of drinking water to the beneficiaries.

The initiative was intended to ease the chronic water scarcity in the Chekkalakkonam colony. As part of the plan, officials renovated a pond near the Pacha Subrahmanya Swamy Temple and constructed a cellar within the waterbody to house a motor pump, which was expected to draw and purify water before supplying it to households.

But poor restoration of the pond and substandard construction of the cellar rendered the entire effort futile. Pond water continuously seeps into the cellar, turning the supply into muddy, unusable water. With no effective intervention from authorities, the lakhs spent on the project have gone completely to waste.

Beyond the initial ₹21 lakh for the cellar and pump, an additional ₹7 lakh was spent on fencing and building a pump house. Locals say the same amount could have easily funded borewells for each of the households in the colony. They add that the water produced by the project is so poor in quality that it is not even suitable for washing cattle.