DHENKANAL: At a time when almost every village of Dhenkanal is facing water scarcity, there are several water supply projects that are lying incomplete in the district.
At least 47 piped water supply projects that were sanctioned by the State Government in the last financial year are yet to see the light of the day even as deadline for completion was fixed for March this year.
Only wells for these 47 projects, which are being implemented by the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (RWSS) wing of the Rural Development Department, have been dug up. The remaining work that encompasses laying of pipelines and electricity connections have not been done as there are no funds for the purpose. Each project has entailed an expenditure of `70 lakh to `80 lakh so far. Had these projects been completed, RWSS could have supplied drinking water to 2.5 lakh rural households in the district. Sources said expenditure of the projects is to be borne by both State and Centre. “As both the State and Central Governments are yet to reach on a consensus on the extent of expenditure, funds could not been sanctioned yet,” said an official.
Executive Engineer of RWSS, Bijayananda Sahoo said the State Government has been apprised about the requirement of funds.