SAMBALPUR: Going a step ahead in ensuring that water reaches people in dry pockets of the city, the Public Health and Engineering Department (PHED) has installed GPS (global positioning system) in all the water tankers.
Altogether, 28 water tankers have been engaged to supply drinking water to water-stressed areas in the city. Five of them each have been pressed into service in Burla and Hirakud areas. Each tanker has a capacity to carry 4,000 litres of the water at a time and every tanker will make four trips a day.
Sub Divisional Officer of the PHED, Sambalpur, Jadab Chandra Dehury said installation of GPS in tankers has made it possible for them to track movement of tankers and verify whether they are following the scheduled routes. Moreover, installation of GPS has made it easy for them to track whether the tankers are making four trips a day or not.
Several areas of the city including Bhatra, Sakhipara, Sunapali, Talbhatapara, Mahabirpara, Kuluthkani, Shanti Nagar, Chandan Nagar, Gobindtola, Durgapali, Remed, Anguliapada, besides many areas of the Burla and Hirakud face water scarcity during summer.
Sambalpur has the potential to supply more than the required water. However, in the absence of well spread network of pipelines residents of many areas have to struggle for arranging drinking water.
At present, drinking water is supplied to the city from two water treatment plants located at Baraipali and Mudipada. While the treatment plant at Baraipali has a capacity to treat 42 MLD of water, that at Mudipada has the capacity of 11 MLD. Although water demand of the city is around 28 MLD per day, many areas do not have network of pipelines reflecting on smooth distribution.