As parched lakes and ponds turn borewells dry, residents in Palanandal village near Tiruvannamalai town have demanded operation of an Overhead Tank in the village to provide regular water supply, especially to tail-end areas.

Residents said Palanandal village comprises nine wards that come under Thurinjapuram Panchayat Union in the district. Seven remote hamlets, including Veluganandal, Mangalam, Pudur, and Nookkambadi with around 2,300 families are located in the village.

While recent weeks have seen soaring temperatures, water supply has not reached the tail-end areas of these hamlets in the village. Among these hamlets, Pudur hamlet alone has around 150 families, who depend on water supplied by the panchayat.

Irregular supply of water has made residents travel at least 5-10 km to fetch a few pots of water from Kilpennathur and Tiruvannamalai towns. ” As groundwater in the area is salty, we depend on water provided by the panchayat for consumption. However, the local panchayat has not connected water pipelines to the newly built Overhead Tank,” said R. Ganesh, a resident.

Residents said that the tank, which has a storage capacity of 10,000 litres, was built more than five years before the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure houses in the tail-end areas get regular water supply. However, residents said that the tank has not been fully operational due to low-power generators that give less water to the tank. As a result, water in the tank does not have enough pressure to reach tail-end areas.

Panchayat officials said on an average, 3.5 lakh litres of water is required for household consumption alone every day. Most of the water is sourced from five borewells in the village. Water from these bore wells is pumped to four Over Head Tanks in the village to provide water through pipelines and street corner taps. Every day, water is supplied for two hours for household consumption.

Initial inquiry by panchayat officials found that motor pump sets that upload water to the new overhead tank were not working. The existing water pipelines were also not connected to the tank, which was built after the previous one collapsed many years ago. Panchayat officials said that efforts have been taken to provide water to households through private tanker lorries before water supply is resumed through the new tank.

Published - July 31, 2026 11:47 pm IST