PARBHANI: Four villagers attempted to commit suicide on Thursday by consuming pesticides in a local revenue office in Maharashtra's Parbhani district, an official said. All are now out of danger.
The incident took place at the tehsildar's office in Manvat sub-district.
Hailing from Manoli village, the four, identified as Laxman Shinde, Datta Kadam, Shagir Sheikh and Chandrakant Talekar, had submitted a petition of their demands 10 days ago and threatened that if these were not redressed, they would resort to the extreme action of "mass suicide".
They were immediately rushed to a hospital in Parbhani for treatment and are now out of danger, said Collector P. Siva Sankar.
He said the main demand of the village pertains to water supply which is being handled by the Maharashtra Jal Pradhikaran (MJP) under a regional supply scheme for eight villages implemented since 2015.
"However, since over a year, the villagers have not paid their water taxes amounting to around Rs 1.1 million and hence water supply was stopped by MJP. But we have made alternative temporary arrangements till the issue is sorted out," Siva Sankar told IANS.
Besides, he said the villagers had made allegations about some bogus minor irrigation dams in the region, which is now being investigated by the authorities.
While Shinde, Kadam and Sheikh were discharged after treatment, while Talekar is under observation.
