The government’s alleged apathy in repairing a water supply plant at Kukital in south Assam’s Karimganj district has sparked fury among the residents. Kukital falls under Patharkandi Assembly constituency, around 102km from here.

Residents said the water supply plant, which is the sole supplier of potable water to a around 20,000 people in several villages, has been lying defunct for the past four years.

The residents have to collect water from impure sources like rivers, ponds and other waterbodies, they said.

As a result, the people often suffer from water-borne diseases but the authorities, they alleged, are apathetic to their plight. They said the matter has been brought to the notice of the authorities several times but no step has been taken so far to repair the plant.

Kukital gaon panchayat’s president, Gangotri Kurmi, said the plant started malfunctioning just a few months after being established.

At present, the plant is in a decrepit state, engulfed by weeds. Many of its machines have been stolen, she added.

Kurmi said she recently took the matter up with a senior official in the PHE department, Patharkandi, but nothing fruitful came of it.

She said the villages would continue to suffer if the government does not take up the matter on a priority basis and initiate necessary measures.

The residents said PHE minister Rihon Daimary was informed about the dilapidated water supply plant when he last visited Patharkandi to lay the foundation stone of a water supply plant at Ichabeel around four months ago.

The minister had assured the people that necessary measures would be taken but nothing has happened till date.

The residents claimed that most of the water supply plants in Patharkandi have been in bad shape for years.

They have sought the intervention of Patharkandi MLA Krishnendu Paul for a solution to the problem.