Marayoor (Kerala): Tribal families in Mangappara Kudi, located inside the Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary near the Kerala–Tamil Nadu border, are struggling to find drinking water. Without access to a single drop of clean water, muddy water from a nearby pit is currently their only resort. Twenty families are forced to rely on this pit for drinking water – the exact same source used by wild animals.

Their sole relief was water piped from a stream located five kilometres from the settlement. However, as summer intensified, the streams dried up and wild animals, including elephants, damaged the pipelines, halting the supply altogether. Since restoring the pipeline requires funds, the project has not been restarted.

With the pit water also receding due to severe summer heat, the villagers' plight has worsened. Water shared equally between humans and wildlife is now their primary source of drinking water. Residents fear the situation will deteriorate further in the coming days as rain continues to fail.

Locals report that the area has not received much rainfall for over six months. Extreme heat has also dried up their crops, making new cultivation impossible.


Flouted schemes and broken promises

Settlers also express frustration over being denied various government benefits. Besides the lack of a functional drinking water scheme, residents complain that not a single home has been constructed here under the LIFE Housing Scheme or any other shelter initiative.

Families are forced to live in mud huts or structures draped with tarpaulin. With severe deficiencies in basic infrastructure compounded by the total absence of clean drinking water, daily life in Mangappara Kudi has ground to a halt.


Urgent intervention needed

Residents are demanding immediate action to resolve the drinking water crisis and repair the damaged pipeline. In addition to establishing a permanent drinking water project, they urge authorities to take concrete steps to provide housing, agricultural support and essential infrastructure.