Kuttippuram: Residents of Homestead Apartments on Civil Station Road are facing a severe drinking water crisis. Their only source of water, an old quarry behind the complex, has become polluted and remains uncleared despite repeated efforts, leaving 63 families struggling for safe water.

Cleaning up the quarry requires access through land owned by five private individuals, who have refused permission, triggering the crisis. The landowners claim that the police and officials tried to tress pass into their properties without prior consultation.On Monday morning, a team of revenue officials and police arrived with a JCB to clean the quarry, but local residents onceagain blocked their entry.

The quarry, situated right behind the apartment building, remains crucial for the daily water needs of the residents. As the waterbody became increasingly polluted, the residents complained to the construction company, though to no avail. Following this, they approached the Tirur Sub-Collector, who directed the company to clean the quarry urgently. However, the lack of an access path from the flats to the site continues to be the main obstacle in executing this order.

Eighteen years ago, when the land for the flats was first purchased by a private individual, the quarry owner granted permission to use water from the pond within the quarry. The Homestead company acquired the land eight years ago and built the apartments. Residents of the apartment complex continue to rely on this water based on that original agreement.

Apartment owners Nejmol Jabir, P P Muraleedharan, K Shahul Hameed and Dr. K P Jabir Moosa have appealed to authorities for an immediate solution.