Cheruvathur (Kasaragod): Five years after funds were sanctioned under the Kasaragod Development Package to prevent incursion of seawater into a key drinking water source, the project remains incomplete. As the deadline passed long ago and the work stalled midway, saline water has begun entering the system, pushing hundreds of families across Cheruvathur into a deepening drinking water crisis.

For the past one week, water supply has also come to a complete halt in the valley of the Veeramala hill and even as residents scramble in search of drinking water, authorities appear to be turning a blind eye to their plight. Such is the current state of the main drinking water supply scheme in the local body.

Drinking water to several areas across the panchayat, including Mayicha, Vengatt, Kattuthala, Vayal, Ramanchira, Vadakkumbad, Aranayi and Konayi, is supplied from a well located at the foothills of Veeramala near the Ramanchira bridge. To prevent saline water from entering this well, which lies on the banks of the Muttoli river, Rs.1.76 crore was sanctioned under the Kasaragod Development Package for building a small check dam beneath the new Ramanchira bridge. The funds were allocated during 2021-22 and the work was stipulated to be completed within one year and six months.

As per the work contract, the project should have been completed by April 2024. However, the work now lies abandoned midway. Even the installation of the fibre shutters for blocking the entry of saline water has not been carried out, leading to intrusion of seawater into the system.

With saline water entering the storage source, hundreds of families are now facing severe hardship. As water sources in many places dry up during the harsh summer, the well that once supplied drinking water to the entire region has also turned saline, forcing residents to rely on bottled water even for cooking.