KAMALPUR, August 11 (TIWN): Scarcity of drinking water had long been a great problem of the locality. Often the departmental water tapes provided them with nothing but air. But for last 10 to 15 days, the problem became more acute.

Several times they knocked the authorities of the DWS Ambassa sub-division but in vain. As a result the locales blocked the national highway in front of the DM complex at Jawaharnagar this morning.

Locales gathered there with pitchers, buckets and with placards irrespective of age or sex. After a prolonged blockade, the SDO of DWS assured them to remedy the situation in scribes and then the deadlock ended.

However, the SDO alleged that, almost every house in the locality use illegal connection from the tapes to fetch water inside their premise. As a result, the tape water could not reach every house. Now how the problem could be remedied is to be seen.