Kendrapda: Led predominantly by women, hundreds of residents from six villages in Marsaghai block of Kendrapada district staged a four-hour road blockade on Tuesday, protesting against erratic drinking water supply and defunct tube-wells.The agitation disrupted vehicular movement on the Haladiagada–Patkura road near Sasinipada.Demonstrators also held a rally, warning that protests would intensify if the rural water supply and sanitation (RWSS) department fails to ensure regular water tanker services. The agitating villagers are from Talasanga, Sasinipada, Garajanga, Kharadasahi, Kurapala, and Berua. “We have been facing irregular water supply for a long time. Despite multiple complaints to officials, no action has been taken,” said Smitarani Jena, a resident of Sasinipada.RWSS executive engineer Basant Nayak attributed the water crisis to falling groundwater levels due to scant rainfall. “We are supplying tankers to the affected villages. Around 80% of the project work is complete and should be finished this year,” said Nayak.

The region has been battling salinity issues for the past two decades. “Many villages once had sweet water, but salinity has risen over the years, affecting both drinking water and agriculture,” said Niranjan Behera a resident of Berua village.Tuesday’s protest follows a similar agitation on April 22, when women in Badakula gram panchayat blocked roads with empty pots, demanding potable water. A Rs 241-crore mega drinking water project, announced in 2018 to serve 200 villages across 42 gram panchayats, remains incomplete.